


Just Far Enough

by exbex



Series: I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends [1]
Category: The Royal Romance (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:41:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 25,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22330477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exbex/pseuds/exbex
Summary: Riley Zane believed three lies she told herself: she would never marry for love, she was completely cut out for being a CIA agent, and she could live with a few choice secrets. But when she learned the hard way that she’s not spy material, the CIA did as well, declaring her unreliable and issuing a burn notice less than three days before Prince Liam’s Coronation. Things got a lot more complicated when a plot to defame her was put into motion and she fell for not one, but two of her best friends.Three years later, the dust has settled, she’s married to the love of her life, and her secret is safe...until her loyalty to the Crown means showing her hand...and risking everything.
Relationships: Hana Lee/Main Character (The Royal Romance), Maxwell Beaumont/Main Character (The Royal Romance)
Series: I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1642447
Comments: 51
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

Liam stared at the documents laid out in front of him for what must be the twentieth time in three days. He tried to rearrange the facts in his mind so that they resembled a mathematical equation. He already had them categorized into a neat list. _One, the CIA burned Riley because she didn’t turn over information that the agency suspected she had acquired. Two, Riley was officially no longer an agent exactly 64 hours prior to his Coronation. Three, when she stayed in Cordonia, instead of getting on a plane bound to New York City, she did so as a civilian who was no longer in any way connected to the CIA. Four, the same was true for when she was appointed as a Duchess, married Maxwell, and helped to foil Anton Severus’ plot against the Crown. Five, her former employment was revealed because she caught a spy red-handed. Six, Riley had a chance to run before said spy revealed in his interrogation, who Riley really was, and she hadn’t, choosing to turn herself in instead. ___

__The facts didn’t add up to treason. But the question of whether she could be trusted was far more nebulous, complicated by the fact that she was one of his best friends._ _

__Liam sighed and put his head in his hands. He had one course of action left to him to guide him in making his decision. He hoped it would be enough._ _

__If he was being honest with himself, he hoped for a particular outcome. He straightened and reached into his pocket, pulling out a compass. _“It was supposed to be a wedding present.” It’s late, and Liam’s birthday has officially passed, but he and Drake are sharing scotch in Liam’s study, drifting between conversation and companionable silence with the ease that is borne from years of friendship.__ _

___Drake winces. “I probably shouldn’t have said that.” He looks down at his glass._ _ _

___Liam smiles. “It’s fine Drake. I’m over her.” There’s a jolt of pleasant surprise within him as realizes that it’s entirely true. Riley is one of his closest confidantes, and when he looks at her now, he doesn’t feel a sense of loss._ _ _

___Liam examines the compass more closely. “This is incredible Drake. Thank you again.” He runs his thumb over the glass face. “I assume there’s a more symbolic meaning behind this particular choice of gift?”_ _ _

___Drake nods and sets his glass down. “I know that you have everything it takes to be the best King Cordonia has ever seen. But I thought maybe a more...tangible reminder to always choose the best path would be appreciated.”_ _ _

___Liam rubbed the thumb over the glass face and hoped for the strength to put his own feelings second to the good of his country. ____ _

____**_ _ _ _

____“Your majesty.”_ _ _ _

____Dr. William Porter bowed like a commoner who had grown up surrounded by royalty, but he stood with a certain regality. His angular, handsome face had a chimeric quality; his eyes and mouth could look hard and disapproving or warm and open.“Thank you for coming Dr. Porter.” Liam extended his hand, and took note of Porter’s firm and reassuring grip._ _ _ _

____For the first time in days, Liam felt a bit of the weight leaving his shoulders. He gestured for Porter to sit._ _ _ _

____“You’ve read the files, you’ve spoken with the Guardians. What is your plan going forward?”_ _ _ _

____Porter relaxed marginally in his chair. “She was trained by the CIA; there’s no point in hiding anything from her, save for one thing. I think it’s best if I tell her that she’s being exiled.”_ _ _ _

____Liam’s eyes widened. “That’s...a distinct possibility, depending on what your interview yields. I’m afraid I don’t understand why you would want to lead with that. Wouldn’t it be better to...offer her an incentive, of sorts?”_ _ _ _

____Porter nodded. “It’s a fair question. I’ve pored over these files with a fine tooth comb, so to speak. This is a young woman who has been through more than her fair share of hardship. She also strikes me as someone who is rather pragmatic. It’s going to be difficult to gain her trust.” He paused, tapping his fingers briefly on the table. “I need to offer her something that there’s...no danger of being taken back, with minimal risk to her self-preservation.”_ _ _ _

____Liam nodded slowly. “So...you tell her that, in exchange for the truth, she can be released, and have a chance at a fresh start.”_ _ _ _

____“Correct. She’s been incarcerated and isolated for just long enough that she’ll know she’ll need to give something in order to get something, so to speak; she’ll likely suspect already that the powers that be have been deliberating over what to do with her.” He paused. “But not so long that her imagination will be running away with her. I suspect that there’s a certain amount of fear that hasn’t tipped over into paranoia. That’s why we need to begin immediately; she’s not conditioned to worrying about her physical safety, but she’s likely feeling a certain amount of resignation over her potential fate._ _ _ _

____Liam exhaled, clearing his throat. “Alright.”_ _ _ _

____They turned to the monitor that had been set up to surveil Riley in the interrogation room. Her dark hair and skin were stark against the sterile walls. She sat, uncharacteristically slumped, staring down at the table in front of her._ _ _ _

____“I’m going in now,” Porter said, his voice barely audible above the hum of the electric lights._ _ _ _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ****Content warnings**** Things that are mentioned, but not described: past sexual assault, past parental death.

Riley didn’t take her eyes off of Porter as he entered the room. He walked at an even pace, his shoulders relaxed. His expression was neutral, but even through the monitor, it was clear that his eyes were offering a hint of a friendlys mile.

“Hello Riley. My name is William. More formally, I’m known as Dr. William Porter. I’m going to take a seat across from you.” He slid into the chair and held out his hand. Riley hesitated before shaking it, her grip steady, but not firm.

“I have a lot of letters after my name, but the important thing to know is that I specialize in both forensic psychology and clinical psychology. Riley, I’m sure you know that everything is being recorded on our cameras in here.” He gestured to the cameras in the room. “You may have figured out that your days here in Cordonia are numbered. That being said, the Crown is not going to forget your service, and you have an opportunity for a fresh start and to leave Cordonia as a free woman, as long as you don’t look back.”

Riley gave him an appraising look. Her shoulders remained slumped, but her eyes were alert. “What do I have to do?”

“You have to answer every question I’m going to present to you with complete honesty.” 

She nodded. “Well...are you going to ask questions you already know the answer to?”

“What I read in your dossier does not align perfectly with your perspective on events Riley.”

She frowned. “Do you mean...those are the facts, but…”

“I want your first-person narrative, Riley.” 

“Oh,” she sat up straighter. “Okay, well, where should I begin?”

“Begin with the night you met the man who was then Crown Prince Liam Rhys of Cordonia. Tell me the story like you would tell it to a stranger you’ve just met a party.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Or a gala?”

He smiled. “Let’s speak like two commoners.”

“It was a Saturday night at the bar where I worked. But it wasn’t just any bar and I wasn’t just another waitress. I was a low-level CIA agent, and the bar was frequented by a lot of people of interest. Not necessarily all of them, or even most of them considered enemies, but foreign dignitaries and the like. It wasn’t the most high-end of bars, but it wasn’t exactly a dive either, it and had the added benefit of being low-key enough that people could evade whatever type of attention they wanted to evade.”

“Did you know who the four gentleman were when you saw them?”

“I guessed they were Cordonian as soon as the three of them started talking. And when Liam showed up, I knew exactly who he was.” She hesitated.

“What is it Riley?”

“Do you just want the facts, or my DVD commentary version?”

Porter raised an eyebrow. “I think you know that I’m going to need as much as you can tell me in order for you to get out of here.”

She nodded. “Fair enough. So….I took note of the three at the table, mostly how different they seemed from one another.” A ghost of a smile flashed across her face. “I could never have guessed that I’d soon meet three of the greatest friends I’d ever have and the love of my life.” She frowned, pain flashing momentarily in her eyes. “Anyway, I turned around to make the acquaintance of the one who was the potential target. And he was interesting. Even if I had just been a waitress, he would have struck me as...distinctive. His demeanor especially. I don’t mean this as an insult, but he made me think of a coiled snake. Not one that’s ready to strike, but one that is prepared to if the situation necessitates.”

“What was your objective that night?”

“Business as usual. Listen for anything that could be beneficial...or concerning. Nothing stood out though as I refilled drinks and catered to them. Everything indicated that they really were just a group of guys having a low-key bachelor party. By the time they asked for the bill, I assumed I’d be on my way home after my shift. But then the Prince came over to apologize for his demanding friends and offer to buy me a drink to make up for them. I didn’t know if he was after a one-night stand or was just that conscientious, but my sense of duty kicked in. I didn’t think I’d end the night with intel, but leave no stone unturned and all that.”

Porter took a pen out of his breast pocket and fiddled with it. “Let me ask about that sense of duty you mentioned. Is it why you joined the CIA in the first place?”

Riley shrugged. “Honestly...I didn’t expect to be a spy. I just wanted to work in government in some form, and I wasn’t having a lot of progress with other avenues.” She gave a humorless laugh and shook her head. “I would have been happy pushing papers, as long as it had to do with government.” She paused, biting her bottom lip. “When Maxwell showed up at the bar the next day, I called my case officer. We both figured I’d be back home within the month. It was a low-priority assignment, but we spy on our allies and friendlies all the time.” Riley laughed hollowly, the sound jarring in the sterile room. “All that training, and it started to fall apart the first night I was there.”

“How so?”

Riley’s smile was wistful. “I walked into the palace boutique’s changing room to see my Achilles heel.”

Porter raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“Hana Lee.” Riley sighed. “This...is awful, but...she seemed like a wide-eyed, innocent rabbit in the body of a lingerie model. And I wanted to go hunting.” She looked down at the table, clasping her hands. “I like to flirt with women,” she said as she looked at Porter again. “Women I’m attracted to, anyway. Or...if I see a need to be manipulative. I don’t flirt with men because they’re more dangerous. My adrenaline addiction manifests itself in interesting ways. I’m sure you understand, Dr. Porter, what with your background in psychology. I figured nothing would come of it, so why not flirt a bit? And maybe I could get information out of her. I mean, that was my directive, after all. Exploit every possible avenue.”

Porter nodded. “What else did the Masquerade reveal to you?”

“Well...I got a sense of what I was dealing with relatively quickly. But I wasn’t sure that it amounted to much of anything. Honestly, I wondered if it was all a waste of time.”

“Elaborate.”

“Liam seemed smitten, but I wasn’t convinced that would be enough to get him to let me in. For all I knew, he just saw me as a chance to sow his wild oats.”

Porter tilted his head, considering. “Seems a bit cynical.”

Riley narrowed her eyes at him. “Not comparatively.”

_“Looking the part doesn’t mean you’re going to be welcome here, you know.”_

_Riley kept her features schooled. The bright red of the dress and the somewhat elaborate mask may have been enough to distract from the fact that she was calculating, wondering the best way to coax any information from him. It wouldn’t be easy; Drake’s demeanor was more than aloof. “Well you’re as charming as ever,” she retorted drily._

_“Hey, compared to most of the nobles here, I’m your best friend.”_

Interesting. What does he want? _She wondered._ Should I lean into it, or push back? _She paused for a second._ Let’s see if he’s as hardened as he thinks he is. _“Everyone’s been perfectly nice so far,” she said, taking a sip of champagne._

_He snorted. “To your face. Give them half a chance, and they’ll stab you right in the back.”_

_“What about Maxwell? You seemed to be friends with him, and isn’t he one of these nobles?”_

_Drake scowled, his hand tightening around the stem of his glass. “You don’t know him like I do. You don’t know any of them like I do. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to enjoy my drink outside.” Riley watched as he stalked off._ Definitely not unaffected then.

“So if Hana was easy to get close to because she responded to your flirting and your friendship, Drake was potentially easy because he wasn’t shy about expressing his disdain.”

“Exactly.” Riley nodded. 

“But you were still wondering if there was anything useful to be gained.”

“It was so manufactured.”

“The Masquerade?”

“The Masquerade, and all of the social events.”

“Well…” Porter leaned forward, hands open. “The events were for the press and the public, correct? A certain amount of pageantry to break up the gravitas of politics.”

Riley smirked. “Yes, I can’t argue with you there.” She paused. “Although I was surprised to find how easily Liam opened up. I thought that, away from New York, he’d be back in Prince mode. But it was easy to get him to slip out of that.”

“You have this look on your face Riley…”

“I ignored it at the time, told myself I’d be called home before anything went too far.” She sighed.

“What do you mean?”

“He was smitten. It should have made things easier. But it made things much more difficult.”

“Why?”

“I thought I couldn’t get attached.” Riley paused. “I had no idea that I would start to care about any of these people. I had them all cast into this...box. Rich, stuck up nobility living in this bizarre world where a Prince was expected to interview candidates for the position of wife slash future qeen, but it also had to be spun into some kind of entertaining debacle. It was like a creative writing professor had given an assignment that involved crafting a script that would be the combination of a Hallmark movie and a young adult dystopian novel.” She sighed. Sometimes it’s easier to lie to ourselves than to others I think. I told myself a few big ones that night. One, that the stakes weren’t too high. Two, that people were predictable enough. Three, that I was hardened enough.” She paused. “I read once, a long time ago, that in Antarctica, it can get so cold that plastic can shatter like glass. I should have remembered that when I took the assignment.”

She splayed her hands out in front of her on the table, staring intently at them. The sound of Porter picking up the pitcher of water and filling two cups was the only thing that pierced the silence.

“Tell me more about that Riley. You thought it would be easy, straightforward...so what did you do next?”

Riley picked up one of the cups and took a careful sip before gingerly setting it down on the table. “I started looking for every opportunity I had to spend time with Maxwell, Drake, Hana, and Liam outside of the social season’s events, all in an attempt to gather anything I could. And each one of them had a weakness I could exploit. With Hana it was the way she seemed so lost. With Liam it was his desire for love. With Drake it was his loyalty and his pain. With anyone else, I just exploited how readily they underestimated me.” She paused and looked away. “I fancied myself a lone wolf, but I didn’t realize that I was being drawn into the pack.” She returned her gaze to Dr. Porter. “And it turns out I don’t take too kindly to my pack being threatened.” She picked up her cup of water and took a sip. “Which was a conundrum, as I was the hunter in wolf’s clothing. Or something like that. The point is, I started to care for all of them, fiercely. And in Hana’s case, I started falling for her.” She took a shaky breath. “And at some point, I truly started to…’go native’ so to speak.

“Can you pinpoint that moment Riley?”

Riley leaned back in her chair and stared up at the ceiling, before shifting back into an upright position and returning eye contact with Porter. “It was the day of the Royal Regatta.” She paused, clucking her tongue once. “That was the day I realized I was really starting to fall for Hana. A real rookie mistake. And it was the first day I really showed my hand. Ironically enough, it was to Liam.”

In the adjacent room, Liam sat back in his chair, eyes still trained on the monitor. He had spent much of the past few days replaying everything he could recall from that year, looking at the events through the lens that new information provided. The memory came to him as clear as if it had happened yesterday.

_“There is one silver lining to this story.”_

_“Oh?”_

_“It’s said that if two lovers climb to the top of the waterfall and jump in together, they’ll get the blessing of the lady of the waterfall.”_

_“Is this your way of telling me you think we should be lovers?”_

_“I didn’t think...I mean, I wasn’t trying to…”_

_“So you don’t ever think about it?”_

_“I didn’t say that. I’m only human, Riley. Besides, would it be presumptuous of me to guess that you’ve had similar thoughts?”_

_She gave him a sly grin. “I’ve lived the last few years in a city of over eight million people. I’ve heard a lot of pickup lines and smooth talking. Though I will give you points for managing to include a waterfall.”_

_Liam raised an eyebrow. “I appreciate that. But it doesn’t answer my question.”_

_She looked down, then up at him through her eyelashes, playing the coquette. “Well, I’m only human too.”_

_Liam grinned and pulled his shirt over his head. “Are you ready? It seems you’re already dressed for the occasion. Now, we climb.”_

_“Up the cliff face?”_

_“There’s not exactly an elevator way out here. Are you up for it?”_

_Riley was staring up at the cliff face. Her characteristic fearlessness seemed to be gone. There was an almost imperceptible tremor in her hand._

_LIam frowned. “Riley, we don’t have to.”_

_“I spent several summers working for the U.S. Forest Service as a firefighter,” Riley answered as she continued to look at the cliff face. “I managed to become a smokejumper.” She turned and looked at Liam. “Do you know what that is?”_

_“I can’t say that I’m familiar, no.”_

_“We would parachute out of planes to try to put out small forest fires before they became larger.”_

_Liam’s eyes widened. “That sounds fairly terrifying, to be quite honest.”_

_“It was less terrifying than being on the hotshot crew, which was the crew that went in when the fire started to rage. Hot shots try to contain the fires and keep them from spreading. Fire was, and still is, a huge fear of mine. When I was thirteen I had to escape a house fire. I spent the next few years feeling a lot of guilt over the fact that I couldn’t get my mother out of the house.”_

_“Riley, I’m...I’m so sorry.” Liam’s mind raced. He was falling for her, and the way she was sharing these things, of opening up and revealing that she, like him, had experienced such loss, was only making him fall harder. He flashed back to Lythikos, when she’d joined him in the hot tub. “I suppose they’re not too much of a fire hazard, what with the snow,” she’d responded when he asked her if she liked the candles. He’d thought she’d been teasing him, but maybe she’d really been allowing herself, however subtly, to be vulnerable._

_“The fire started because she had a habit, by that time, of drinking herself to sleep. Unfortunately, she had also been smoking on that particular night.” Anyway, by the time I was nineteen years old, I was seeing a therapist who was trying to help me deal with that issue, plus the fact that a few months prior, a man I had trusted raped me. And my therapist kept telling me that I couldn’t avoid the things that scared me if I ever wanted to get my power back, so to speak. So, being stubborn, angry and snarky and fancying myself a bit of a badass, I decided to jump into an environment that was saturated in a lot of masculinity, and a fair amount of it rather toxic. My therapist thought it was over-shooting the goal a bit, but honestly, it was an amazing experience.”_

_She paused, holding Liam’s gaze for a moment._ She’s testing me, _Liam thought._ She’s sharing these very difficult things and she wants to see how I react. _It was a lot to take in, the reality of her past. But she was standing next to him, seemingly comfortable enough to be alone in a secluded area with him, and enough to share such traumatic parts of her past._

_“You’ve always seemed fearless to me. I can see now that it comes from a place of incredible strength.”_

_She offered a small smile. “The jump was actually the greatest part of every call. There’s this few moments of complete quiet and calm before rushing into, well, a fire-fight, so to speak.” She sighed. “But then I had a bad landing that left me with a broken femur. It took months to rehabilitate. And I decided my days of fire-fighting were done.” Her hand drifted to her left thigh. Liam followed it with his eyes. A neat and efficient scar followed the curve for several inches._

_“That must have been hard.” It sounded foolish to his own ears, but something in Riley’s expression softened, as if he’d earned her approval. “It was, especially after all the training. Smokejumpers have to be able to carry over forty kilos on their backs over some long treks. I had to keep myself in constant peak physical condition. But in a way, it’s kind of just as well. It’s not generally a lifetime career.” She shook her head. “But the point of all that word vomit is...that was the last time I did any kind of jumping or diving.”_

_“We don’t have to.”_

_“Physically, I know it’s safe for me to do it. I just...well, I’m scared. And there’s no parachute. I know the water is deep enough and all, but...you know.”_

_This is where I pass or fail the test. “What if I help you up the cliff face?”_

_“Yeah, I think I can make it if you help me.”_

_“I’ll be with you every step of the way.”_

_After several minutes of climbing, they had reached the top. Riley peered over the edge of the waterfall and breathed in and out. “Thank you Liam.”_

_“I’m glad you feel that you can trust me Riley.”_

_She smiled and offered him her hand. “You’ve earned it.”_

_She was trembling slightly. Liam squeezed her hand. “On three?”_

_She nodded. “One...two...three.” They jumped into the clear water, the splash breaking the relative quiet of the woods._

_They broke the surface of the water at the same time. Riley swam over to him, throwing her arms around his neck._

_“I take it you’re glad you took the leap?”_

_She grinned. “That was amazing.”_

_He put his arms around her, pulling her closer. “I’m so glad. I’ve been worried that being here would be...hard on you.”_

_“That’s sweet, but I’m the kind of girl who can take care of herself.”_

_“I know. But...I care about you, more than you know.”_

_She released her hold on him and he let her go. She swam a few feet away. “Now don’t be getting all sappy on me Liam.” Before he could respond, she splashed him, and the spell was effectively broken._

_“Don’t think I won’t retaliate just because you’re a lady,” he grinned as he splashed water at her._

“It was also the day I made the decision that would lead to being burned by the CIA.”

Porter took a sip from his own cup. “Tell me...what you’re able to share from that.”

“Constantine dismissed me so he could speak to Liam, and I saw an opportunity. They were so engrossed in their discussion that they didn’t see me slip into the trees.”

“That sounds like you took quite a risk.”

Riley raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t a great spy, but I was trained. I could see that Constantine had even kept their security detail at bay. And I finally gathered some intel that I could turn over.”

“But you didn’t. And it led to the CIA declaring you as unreliable.”

“That’s correct.”

Porter paused, drumming his fingers on the table. “I want you to talk about...very carefully, without revealing classified information, what made you hold intel back from the CIA.”

Riley put her head in her hands, resting her elbows on the table. After several moments, she looked up. “I have asked myself that question so many times. All I can come up with is that...it was information that would leave Cordonia vulnerable, without really benefiting the United States, except, perhaps, to have some kind of possible leverage. I guess it seemed, well, like exploitation. I know I’m using that word constantly…”

“It seems accurate.”

“Well,” she turned the cup of water, rotating it in slow circles. “I resented my father for a long time, for giving his life for a country that committed genocide against his ancestors. And I guess I kind of wondered why I was following in his footsteps. I had gotten into government in order to protect, not exploit.” She rolled her eyes. “Foolish of me, to think it could work like that.”


	3. Chapter 3

Porter shifted in his chair. “You speak about this as if it was a philosophical and moral dilemma for you.”

Riley frowned, her brow furrowing in confusion. “Well...it was.”

“But that wasn’t all. You were falling in love with Hana. You were becoming friends with others.” He leaned forward in his chair. “You were befriending Liam, but keeping a certain distance. All while knowing full well that he was falling in love with you.”

“Well...I was thinking about propriety, when it came to both Liam and Hana. And I was protecting myself as much as I was protecting both of them.”

“It wasn’t just a sense of morality. This was personal for you.”

Riley let her eyes drift closed. When she opened them, she looked resigned. “I understand what you’re saying. I’d gotten attached. The most terrifying thing that could have happened. But I really thought I’d been careful. I’d flirted, but I hadn’t gone any further. I’d befriended, but on my own terms.” Her expression shuttered. “I used to spend a lot of time keeping people at arm’s length to protect myself, but I should have been doing it to protect everyone else.”

Porter’s expression shifted, as if he was appraising her. “You haven’t mentioned Maxwell Beaumont. Not in your list of people with exploitable properties.”

The mention of Maxwell’s name caused a stricken look to cross Riley’s face. She cleared her throat. “Maxwell is constantly underestimated. There wasn’t anything I could exploit with him. And with Bertrand and Maxwell desperate to improve the status of their House, I didn’t really need to. Maxwell’s kindness and loyalty already made it...easy to try to accomplish what I’d set out to do. It was obvious that he was going to see me through to the end. And Bertrand was the same. At first, it seemed he was only interested in status, but loyalty appeared to be a family trait.” She paused and looked down at the table.

“Tell me about this, Riley.”

Riley looked up, her brow furrowing. “What is the ‘this’ that you’re referring to?”

Porter gestured toward her clenched fists. “You just clenched your fists. What is that about?”

Riley slowly unfurled her fists. “It’s...a bit complicated.”

Porter raised an eyebrow. “I’m not going anywhere. Take your time.”

“Out of all the lies I told, this is the one that might be the least defensible. It’s my...biggest manipulation, I guess.”

“Go on.”

She sighed. “Bertrand and I would butt heads quite often, throughout the Coronation and the engagement tour. When I wanted to get my way, I would remind him that he needed me more than I needed him, that I knew how to be reduced to having nothing and come back from it, but he didn’t. That if I didn’t marry Liam, I could just return to the States and rebuild my life.”

_“Stop! Please. Stop. If you would please direct your ire away from Maxwell. The indiscretion in question is mine and mine alone.”_

_“Meaning…”_

_“I was the one who sold the photos of the bachelor party to the tabloids.”_

_Riley’s eyes narrowed, while Maxwell looked stricken. “Bertrand! No! Why? How could you do that to Riley and Liam?”_

_“Explain yourself.” Drake demanded_

_He sighed. “There is no excuse for what I did, but the reason enough was simple… money. Most nobles didn’t think Lady Riley would last a week… I was one of them. Here I was facing the terrible reality of having agreed to sponsor a failure of a candidate… House Beaumont’s last chance at being restored to its former glory would be ruined, and it would be on my shoulders. I decided to salvage what I could and sell any material related to you, the photos in question being the only thing I could find.”_

_“Bertrand… you went through my phone.” Maxwell’s eyes betrayed his hurt._

_“I was doing research, all in the name of saving House Beaumont. But… I betrayed you, Maxwell, my only brother, my own flesh and blood. Father would be ashamed if he knew.”_

_Riley clasped her hands and schooled her expression. “Bertrand, I understand why you did it. You’ve been struggling to scrape every cent together to support your house.”_

_“Riley he sold private photos of you and Liam…”_

_Riley glanced at Drake. “That doesn’t mean I approve of it.”_

_“Nor should you.” Bertrand agreed. “If it means anything at all, and I don’t suspect that it does… Please know that I’ll never forgive myself for this. For what I did to you. If it’s any solace, I can only say that this was before… Before I knew you. Before I saw that you had a chance here at court. Before I… before I began to believe in you.”_

_“Another mistake by the oh-so-illustrious Duke of Ramsford.” Drake glared at him._

_He nodded. “It would appear so. Lady Riley, I do not believe my actions are worthy of your forgiveness… Even so, let me extend to you my most sincere apologies.”_

_“Mine too.” Maxwell added, looking defeated._

_“No, Maxwell. You had nothing to do with this. The blame is mine to shoulder. I know it’s too much to hope for your forgiveness, but I’d at least like to offer my continued services. My misconduct has no relation to the cretins who so wrongly hurt you. I may still be of some use in helping you uncover your true enemies here.” Bertrand continued._

_“I forgive you Bertrand, but from here on out, remember this: I have told you more than once that you need me more than I need you. It may be difficult to believe, but that is still true. If this investigation fails…” Riley shrugged, “I’ll go back to the States and start over. I’ve done it before, and I can do it again. So let me make this very clear: I’m calling the shots from here on out.”_

She looked down for a moment, and when she lifted her head again, her eyes shone with tears.

“Why do you think this manipulation was worse?”

Riley blinked away the tears. “Bertrand is family, for one. Also, he stood the most to lose, he and Maxwell.” She clenched her fists again. “They still do. All because I inserted myself into their lives.”

“Let’s go back to the social season, the regatta, and your choice not to turn intel over. Since you decided to with-hold information from your case officer, how did that affect your actions going forward?”

“I told myself I could always turn that information over later, that I was gathering more intel. But I was distracted by my developing feelings for Hana and getting caught up with...everything.” She laughed hollowly. “I got angry with Maxwell, but he was right.”

“What do you mean?”

_“What was that all about?”_

_Maxwell shrugged. “Just Bertrand reminding me about priorities, the consequences of failure, the potential ruination of House Beaumont. You know, the usual.”_

_“He’s angry that I didn’t buy a riding outfit isn’t he?”_

_“Well, yeah.”_

_Riley frowned. “Did you remind him that the two of you aren’t the only ones who are broke? I wasn’t waiting tables because it’s a lucrative use of my Master’s Degree.”_

_“That’s...kind of the problem. Every time he’s anxious about...all of this, he questions my choice to sponsor you.”_

_“I see. You seem to be chipper though.”_

_Maxwell grinned and straightened in his saddle “I don’t have any reservations. You and Liam are getting close. Even when he’s busy talking to his family, he sneaks glances back to you.”_

_“Maxwell…” Riley glanced around. “That’s...kind of a problem for me. I don’t have any problem with a relationship of convenience. I’ve done it before. But those stars in Liam’s eyes are going to burn out at some point and he’s going to see right through me. When I first came here, that idea didn’t really bother me, but now that I’ve gotten to know Liam, I’m not sure I’m okay with leading him into a one-sided marriage.”_

_Maxwell looked at her, biting his lower lip before flashing a reassuring smile. “So he’s falling faster than you are; that’s alright.”_

_“Maxwell, I think I’m falling for someone else.” Riley blinked, surprised at her openness._ What is going on with me? Why am I telling him this when I have absolutely nothing to gain?

_Maxwell’s eyes widened in something resembling panic. “What?! No, please don’t say that! The social season can be a confusing time. It’s easy to bond really quickly with people here throughout the activities. You can’t trust how you might be feeling right now.”_

_Riley scowled. “How kind of you to mansplain my feelings to me Maxwell.”_

_Maxwell returned the scowl. “Even if you’re having doubts, you’re here for the Prince. And that’s not feelings, that’s reality. Unless you want to go back to your life in New York where you have to work a shit waitressing job.”_

_Riley adjusted her posture, focusing on keeping her heels down and her spine straight in an attempt to focus on proper riding form in order to control her anger. It worked moderately well. “I know how to work, which is more than I can say for you or your brother or most of the people here.”_

_“You’re a smart girl Riley; you knew exactly what you were signing up for.”_

_Riley gave him an appraising look. “Interesting. This is a side of you I haven’t seen.”_

_Maxwell just stared straight ahead. “We’re coming up on our stop.”_

Riley dragged her hands over her face. “I did know what I was signing up for. Even if I had been some...multiverse version of myself who had just been a wide-eyed waitress from America, I knew.”


	4. Chapter 4

Porter drummed his fingers on the table. “Talk to me about the night at Applewood Manor, when the photographs were taken. We know how it changed things, but you couldn’t have foreseen that particular outcome. What I want to know is if it changed your attitude about your assignment.”

Riley narrowed her eyes, as if she was lost in thought. “I almost spilled everything to Drake that night.”

_Riley stared at the door handle. There seemed to be something wrong with the lock mechanism, when she was pretty sure it had worked properly that morning. But it was an old building; perhaps something had worn out and broke._ I suppose I can just shove a chair under the handle. _She moved towards the window to draw the curtains, when she was startled by a pair of arms encircling her waist and pulling her flush against a broad chest._

_“I was hoping you would come,” the voice was as familiar as the expensive cologne._

_Riley yelped. “Tariq, what the hell?!”_

_“Shh, Lady Riley, I assure you your feelings are ardently returned. You have thoroughly enchanted me, just as you enchant everyone you come across.” He leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek._

_“Tariq, get off me. Now.” She couldn’t keep her voice from shaking._

_“There’s no need to be coy,” he trailed a line of kisses down her face._

_Tariq cried out as Riley brought the heel of her boot down on his foot and struck the side of his face with her fist. “Get the fuck out!” she yelled as she broke away from him. She startled at the sound of the door slamming open, whirling around to see Drake stride through, fists clenched_

_“Get away from her!” Drake hauled Tariq up by his collar and shoved him toward the open door._

_“Unhand me! How dare you enter my room without my permission!”_

_“This is Zane’s room, and she doesn’t want you in here. I heard her loud and clear,” Drake snarled, advancing on Tariq with clenched fists._

_Tariq looked at Riley, confusion evident in his eyes. “What’s going on here? Is this some kind of joke?”_

_Riley stared at Tariq. “What the hell are you talking about Tariq?”_

_Tariq looked between Riley and Drake, then around the room. “I thought…”_

_Seeing Drake begin to advance again towards Tariq, Riley held up her hand. “Drake, Tariq totally misread the situation here. I think we have a misunderstanding.” She glared. “Though I think he should know better than to try to kiss someone without asking first.”_

_“So this isn’t to be the bold, romantic beginning to our love story?”_

_Riley stared at Tariq. “No. How the hell did you not read my body language and hear me very clearly tell you to get off me? And what did you think me stomping on your foot and striking you in the face meant?”_

_Realization slowly dawned on Tariq’s face. “I am deeply sorry. I apologize for this transgression. I was incredibly wrong.”_

_“Damn right you were. You heard the lady, get the hell out!” Drake slammed the door after Tariq as he left._

_“Drake...thank you.”_

_Drake let out a shaky breath. “You uh, did most of the work. I just finished the job.”_

_Riley managed a small smile. “Well, I appreciate the backup.”_

_“Well, I guess I should get out of here.”_

_“Please stay. Just...just for a few minutes.” Riley couldn’t suppress the shaking that had come over her._

_Drake frowned. “Are you sure? I...I don’t want you to be alone, but maybe you should call Hana or something.”_

_“If you’re not comfortable Drake…”_

_“No, I just…” Drake ran a hand through his hair, “I don’t know if I’m the best person to be here right now, considering…”_

_“Drake...just…” she gestured toward the mini bar. “Let’s have a shot.”_

_He looked at her, pursing his lips, before giving a resigned sigh. “That I can do.”_

_Drake busied himself with the whiskey and returned to sit next to Riley, who had perched at the end of the bed. Riley took a sip from the glass he had handed to her, waiting for her hand to stop shaking. “Thank you. Really. It could have been worse, and you were there when I needed you.”_

_“Riley, I’ll always be there for you.” He took a sip, and his eyes widened. He swallowed. “I mean,” he stuttered, “for Liam’s sake. He’d never forgive me if anything bad happened to you.” He stared down at his own glass of whiskey. “And I’d never forgive myself either.”_

_“You’re a damn good friend Drake,” Riley said, voice barely above a whisper._

_Drake squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, as if he was berating himself. He opened his eyes. “Zane...if we had met somewhere else, anywhere else...at a club in New York, at an airport or at a party...if you hadn’t been our waitress that night and I hadn’t been sitting next to Liam...do you think all of this...do you think it could have been different...between us?”_

_Riley shifted so she was able to meet his gaze. “I’d still consider you one of my best friends. I’d still want you to tell me what I need to hear, still want you to push me in the right direction...Drake, I don’t feel the same way about you that you feel about me. And I also don’t feel the same way about Liam as he feels about me.”_

_“Riley…” Drake looked stricken._

_“I should tell him right? It’s not fair to him. I know I said when this all started that I was in it for the Crown, and I didn’t have a problem with a political marriage.” She sighed. “I honestly thought he didn’t either. But Drake...he’s much more...idealistic than I realized.”_

_“Hell Zane,” Drake stood, downing the rest of his whiskey. He stared into his empty glass for a moment, before stepping away from Riley and turning to face her again. “He’s crazy about you. And...you’re still the best woman for him.”_

_“Drake…” Riley stood. “I haven’t been training for this my whole life like the other suitors have. I know he’s infatuated with the woman who took him to the Statue of Liberty and treated him like...like Liam and not the Crown Prince of Cordonia, but he doesn’t know me…”_

_“He’s read your Master’s Thesis Zane. Anything you say, about politics, philosophy, anything else, anything he learns about you, he basically memorizes. He thinks you’re brilliant, he thinks Cordonia needs someone like you, someone with your experiences and insights. He doesn’t just see the way you handle the press and the King and Queen; he sees the way you interact with everyone and the way you listen...that’s the person he’s fallen for Zane.” Drake looked at the night sky out the window, his reflection betraying the haunted look in his eyes. “That’s the person I’ve fallen for.”_

_“Drake...I came here for the career opportunity. I figured if the feelings followed, that would be a bonus. I told you this, on the plane, remember? It pissed you off.”_

_Drake sighed. “That was before...before I saw who you really are. I know you came here for a shot at the Crown, and I hear what you’re saying, but...Liam deserves someone like you. I know you wouldn’t hurt him.”_

_“Not on purpose Drake, but sooner or later, his infatuation is going to wear off, and he’s going to see the truth.”_

_“Zane, so what?” Drake pressed the palms of his hands into the tops of his thighs. “It’s still better than the alternatives.”_

_“And that’s good enough?”_

_He stood, carrying his glass over the bar and setting it down. The soft thud echoed in the room. He turned to face her. “I can’t tell you what to do. A few months ago, yeah, I wouldn’t hesitate. But now...now I just trust you to do whatever you think is right.”_

Riley shook her head, as if the memory bewildered her. “I hadn’t received my burn notice yet. The logical thing to do would have been to tell him that I was falling for Liam, that I was committed to seeing it through.” She paused. “I don’t really know...what I was thinking.”

Porter clasped his hands in front of him. “Were you considering leaving the CIA?”

Riley bit her lower lip. “I don’t think I was thinking that far ahead. But it became a moot point quickly enough; it was only a couple of days later that I found out that I was burned.”


	5. Chapter 5

Porter nodded. “Tell me about the night of the Coronation.”

Riley sighed and slumped forward “I had a red-eye flight back to New York, courtesy of the CIA. I had every intention of withdrawing; my bags were already packed. I just had to play the part for a few hours.” She twisted a length of hair around her fingers. “So I mostly took the opportunity to spend a few more moments with Hana.”

“And then Bertrand showed you the letter.”

“Yes.”

“What did you suspect?”

“At first it scared the hell out of me; I wondered if someone had found out I was a spy. But it was so vague that I also wondered if Bertrand was right and it was some desperate attempt to get rid of me. But then Olivia told Liam she was withdrawing, and I ran after her to investigate. She told me about her second letter, and that completely derailed me.”

She put her head in her hands. When she looked up, her eyes were full of resignation. “The plan had been totell Liam I was leaving. Or…” she hestitated.

“Or?” Porter prompted. 

“I don’t know. It should have been easy to just slip away. I was already packed. Hana had told me that her parents had called her home, so there was nothing really keeping me. But I didn’t want to tell Liam, or anyone else, that I was leaving, and I didn’t want to not tell them either. It seemed, well, cruel-to leave without saying goodbye.” She frowned. “Maybe it would have been kinder though.”

“What else kept you from slipping out?” Porter asked after several moments of silence.

“ I didn’t know what I was going to do once I got back to the States. It was this awful sense of limbo. So I followed Olivia and pried the story out of her. But I had no reason to get involved. If there’s anyone who can take care of herself, it’s Olivia Nevrakis.”

Porter allowed a long pause. “Why do you think you got involved?”

Riley looked down at her hands, as if examining them, then met Porter’s eyes. “Olivia and I have entirely too much in common.”

“Meaning?”

“Tragic childhoods. Misunderstood.”

Porter seemed to examine her. “You could have left then. You didn’t. What sent you back inside?”

Riley blinked. “I...I guess I wasn’t done meddling in another country’s affairs, regardless of the fact that I’d very recently been unceremoniously fired.”

Porter actually scoffed. “You don’t really believe that.”

Riley reflexively leaned back. “I…”

“Stop lying Riley. Why did you go back inside?”

“I...I couldn’t leave things like that.” She folded her arms across her chest, her spine straightening, her mouth settling into a firm line.

“Why not? If it wasn’t your concern, then why not just leave?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I told you why. Meddling. You called me a liar. Now you’re backtracking.”

“What I’m doing is trying to get to the bottom of this. Stop holding back. It’s not just me you’re not being honest with.”

It was a long, pregnant pause. Liam leaned back in his chair, away from the computer screen. He had the sense of rubber band being pulled taut.

“Something was off. I had to investigate.”

“But you had no idea what?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Of course not.” Suddenly she pushed herself away from the table, her chair making a loud scraping sound. “You think I manufactured the entire thing? That I did it in order to destabilize the monarchy?”

“That would be quite the conspiracy theory. No. The truth is much simpler than that Riley. At some point in your life, you stopped running away from danger and starting running toward it. This particular fire just happened to be metaphorical rather than literal.”

Riley’s jaw dropped. Liam leaned forward to examine the monitor more closely. Her expression was open, unguarded, and unmanufactured. 

She closed her mouth, her eyes relaxing. “I suppose you’re right.” Her mouth turned down. “Hero complex. Or something else equally foolish.”

Porter leaned back. “Keep going. What happened next?”

“I returned to the ballroom, but Constantine was already beginning with his speech. I tried to pull Bertrand or Maxwell aside, but they were too focused on the big moment.” She paused. “It was like one of those dreams where you’re trying to move, but everything is slowed down, or...like being called to a fire, and you notice that the wind is shifting, but everyone is too preoccupied. And then everyone’s phone went off…” she suddenly hunched over, squeezing her eyes shut. “It was like the night my mother died, listening to Maxwell and Bertrand’s protests, hearing Hana and Drake behind me. It was just like that night, fifteen years prior...I got out of bed, and had to crawl on the floor. I knew….I could see that the fire had started in her bedroom, I knew she was gone, but I kept telling myself if I could just get outside, the fire department would show up, they could get to her...the entire time knowing that she couldn’t be saved, but lying to myself so I could get myself out of there.” She stopped, straightened, but kept her arms wrapped around herself. “And I hated my mother for so long, told myself that she brought it on herself, that she deserved it because she chose the booze over me, because she treated me so horribly in the years following my father’s death, but I also hated myself, for not saving her. It was the same feelings at the Coronation. I told myself that it served them right; they were fools, privileged nobles and friends of nobles who had no conception of the problems of the real world , but I also felt...I caused this.” She bowed her head, one small sob escaping.

Porter waited for several moments, before refilling the water cups and pushing one toward Riley. She slowly straightened and reached for it.

“What kept you from getting on the plane?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? You know why. You just told me; I have a habit of running into burning buildings, not out of them. And I already mentioned I have a hero complex, or an adrenaline addiction. Although I suppose it’s foolish to self-diagnose.”

Porter rubbed a hand over his chin. “I can’t say that I disagree with you. You were a paramedic, and a fire-fighter, then a CIA agent. All high-risk, high-adrenaline jobs….”

“And the little thrill that comes with the lying and the manipulation...” Riley wearily rubbed a hand over her face. 

“But at some point you can’t actually stomach it.”

Riley sighed. “An alcoholic doesn’t drink because they love the taste of booze.”

Porter leaned back in his chair. “You said it would have been better for everyone if you’d just left prior to the photos coming out. Can you elaborate on why you feel that way?”

“It was like...when you’re a smoke jumper, your goal is to put out a fire before it rages out of control. But if a crew of smoke jumpers can’t do it, they leave and call in the hotshots to deal with it. The reason I trained so hard to be a smokejumper is because it terrified me less; by the time the hotshot crews are called in, the flames are blazing out of control. In that moment when the news broke, it felt like I’d made the wrong call at a fire, that I stayed and tried to put it out when I should have called the hot shots in.” She inhaled deeply, her exhale shaky.

“Here’s the thing about wildfires. The reason they’re so bad these days is because people are moving further and further out, building more and more. Urban sprawl, deforestation. Crews have to put fires out in order to protect people and property, but sometimes a forest fire is necessary, to burn up the overgrowth and sort of have a cleansing effect. When that’s not allowed to happen, the subsequent fires are more dangerous. I rushed right back in, returning for the engagement tour, stomping out a fire by clearing my name...and that allowed Anton Severus in.”

Porter frowned, his eyes narrowing.“How do you know Anton Severus wouldn’t have found another way? Don’t you think he would have just found another method?”

“I guess. But here’s the other thing: I gambled everything by returning to Cordonia, and now I’ve lost it all. Just like the people who build these million dollar homes in these fire-prone areas, because they’re so beautiful, I poured everything into Cordonia, pushing my way into where I don’t belong, and now it’s gone up in flames.”


	6. Chapter 6

Porter rubbed a hand over his chin. “Bear with me here Riley. It seems to me that you had a series of tasks when you returned for the Engagement Tour.”

Riley frowned. “I suppose...Bertrand decided to make the weeks leading up to it into some sort of boot camp.”

“That’s not what I’m referring to.”

“Well, why don’t you outline it for me?”

He reached into the pocket of his jacket and withdrew a small notepad. The click of his pen sounded over the speakers of the laptop. Liam watched as Porter scratched out a few words. “You began to gather information that would solve the plot against you.”

“Of course. That was my entire objective.”

Porter looked up from the notepad. “I respectfully disagree. It seems to me that things became more complicated the moment Hana returned to court.”

Riley closed her eyes, plain emotion passing across her face, her shoulders relaxing. “When I opened my door to see her...I felt like I could breathe.” She opened her eyes, and even through the laptop screen, it seemed as if tears shone in them. “Hana held onto the thread that could have sent everything unraveling.”

“What do you mean?”

“I wanted her. I thought, if I stayed and if everything worked out, maybe I could convince her to be with me, even if it meant she would have to marry someone else.”

“So you began to help her to find a suitor, so she could satisfy her parents’ expectations.”

“Exactly.”

Porter nodded as he scribbled out another sentence on the notepad. He stopped and looked up at Riley. “And then there was the situation surrounding Savannah Walker.”

Riley narrowed her eyes. “I think I know what you’re getting at.”

Porter offered a half smile. “Please elaborate.”

“Drake ‘Martyr Complex’ Walker has spent most of his life trying to...compensate, to reach the level at which he placed Jackson Walker.” She sighed. “When he told me about Savannah...I feared the worst. A sudden change from being upbeat, optimistic, and extroverted to being devastated and going off the grid, the day after a wild party? I’m sure you know exactly what I was afraid had happened.”

Porter nodded. “I confess that I would likely have feared the same.”

“But then we found out the truth, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d feared.”

“That must have been encouraging.”

“Well, of course.”

Porter leaned forward, tapping his pen on the table. “No, I mean….it must have given you hope. If Savannah was okay, then you would be okay.”

Riley gave him an appraising look as she twirled strands of hair around the fingers of one hand. “You’re good.”

“I’d like to think so.”

“But I don’t know if you’re saying that to reassure me or lure me into a false sense of security.”

Porter just gave a small smile. “Does it matter?”

Several beats of silence passed. “I guess not.”

The spell broken, Porter looked down at his notepad, then met Riley’s gaze again. “Talk to me about tying up loose ends. As the Engagement Tour went on, you got closer and closer to clearing your name, which led you closer and closer to having to decide what your future would look like. How closely did the ultimate outcome align with the future you envisioned for yourself?”

Riley exhaled. “Well, any vision for my future was...murky. I definitely ended up surprised with the way things turned out. Until the moment Liam offered to make me a Duchess, I was kind of making it up as I went along; making decisions, then looking at their outcomes, then plotting out my next move. I figured, if I could clear my name, my future would be a blank slate, which was...equal parts reassuring and frightening. But I’d done it before, more than once, so I figured I could do it again.” She rubbed a hand along her eyes. “I didn’t really make any plans, even tentative ones, until I finally came clean with Liam.”

Porter leaned back, rubbing his chin. “Let’s talk about that. What made you decide to...keep Liam in the dark, and why did you decide to eventually open up to him? Explain your thought process. It makes sense to me why you kept your feelings about Hana a secret, but let’s think about why you didn’t tell him you weren’t interested in marrying him.”

Riley pressed her palms to the table. “I would like to say that I would have come clean to him early in the Engagement Tour, but that I was derailed by what Madeleine told me. I...definitely let my emotions run away with me.”

“And what emotions would that be Riley?”

“Anger.”

“Anger is a secondary emotion.”

Riley sighed. “Well...I was hurt.” She narrowed her eyes and tapped her fingers on the table. “But that’s pretty hypocritical of me.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I mean, I just told you that I was ready to carry on a relationship with Hana even if she were going to marry someone else. So, for me to become angry when Madeleine suggest I be Liam’s mistress seems terribly self-righteous.”

Porter jotted something down on his notepad, then looked back up at Riley. “Let’s unpack that.”

_Madeleine gave Hana one of her smiles that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Lady Hana, I’m happy to see you’ve arrived.”_

_“It’s an honor to be here. Thank you for the invitation back to court.”_

_Madeleine’s eyes flicked between Hana and Riley. “And with Lady Riley here as well, I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing a familiar face.”_

_“I certainly have,” Hana replied._

_“It is wonderful to see Hana,” Riley added._

_“You know,” Madeleine mused, “if it wasn’t for me, she’d still be on the other side of the world. I’ve heard that dogs remember those who feed them. I hope you’ll keep this in mind and remember that dear Hana is here by my personal invitation.”_

_Riley hesitated, then smirked. “I’m not usually into blondes, Madeleine, but if you wanted to put a collar on me, I could be amenable.”_

_Before Madeleine could respond, Liam joined the trio. Hana curtsied and smiled. “King Liam.”_

_“Lady Hana, I’m elated you’ve returned,” he responded warmly._

_“I’m very happy to be here,” Hana said._

_“Lady Riley,” Liam greeted her softly._

_“Good evening,” Riley gave a polite nod._

_“You look beautiful,” his eyes lingered on her.  
“I believe a new delegation of visitors have just arrived. Why don’t you go greet them, sweetheart?” Madeleine interjected pointedly.  
“Of course. It was a pleasure seeing you again Lady Hana, Lady Riley,” Liam bowed before walking away  
“Now, Lady Hana, if I may have a word with Lady Riley in private?”  
Hana nodded “Oh, of course. Riley, I’ll find you afterwards.”  
“Walk with me.”  
Riley attempted to match Madeleine’s pace as Madeleine sauntered, leading Riley into the manor.  
“You two could be a little more subtle,” Madeleine scowled as she turned to face Riley.  
“I’m not sure what you mean.”  
“You and Liam… the long-suffering looks, the star-crossed lovers act?”  
Riley raised an eyebrow. “I suggest you speak with your fiance about that, if you’re feeling threatened. I haven’t given him any reason to think…”  
“Have all the feelings you want for one another. A tryst here and there can be managed. But don’t embarrass me,” Madeleine scowled. ““When you’re behind closed doors, you can have his heart and whatever other part of him you want, as long as I have the crown. It’s practically the best thing that could have happened to you.” She locked eyes with Riley, a challenge flashing in her own._

_“If you’re going to cast me in the role of courtesan, I’d rather have you.” Riley allowed her eyes to travel over Madeleine’s figure before returning her gaze. “Bold of you to assume that I was after Liam instead of the Crown.”_

_Madeleine sighed. “I’m trying to work with you.”_

_Riley’s eyes narrowed. “Oh I see. You’re hoping I’ll take him off your hands so he doesn’t come to you for sexual attention.” She lifted her chin defiantly. “Well, you’ll have to find someone else; I’m not interested.”_

_Madeleine scowled. “Try to develop some flexibility in your life; it’ll do you some good.”_

_“I have plenty of flexibility, which I would be happy to show you, if you know what I mean.”_

_Madeleine rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Lady Riley. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” Madeleine turned on her heel and walked away._

“Hmm…” Porter wrote a few notes and looked at Riley. “Interesting defense mechanism.”

“That’s one way to look at sexually harrassing someone.”

“It sounds like you were fighting fire with fire, in a way. She was behaving as a bully, so you retaliated in a way that you thought would knock her down a peg, or at least throw her for a bit of a loop.”

“Yes, I agree.”

Porter clicked his pen and set it down. “Let me ask you this: how did this affect your perception of Liam?”

“I wasn’t entirely surprised...it made sense that people in a political marriage would seek those types of arrangements. And I didn’t really think I had any room to judge; I’d been in a relationship of convenience before, not to mention that I had spent the entire social season pretending to be interested.”

“So what was the problem?”

She leaned back in her chair and gave him a pointed look. “It threatened the investigation.”


	7. Chapter 7

_Riley peered into the roses, mistrustful. She wouldn’t put it past the conspirators to place a bug. She quirked an eyebrow at finding a strip of white paper wrapped around a stem instead. She plucked the note and unfurled it._ I wouldn’t blame you if you’re furious with me, but please meet me so I can at least explain. I’ll be on the balcony outside my room in twenty minutes. _“Take a look,” she said, handing it to Maxwell._

_“That’s Liam’s handwriting.”_

_Riley frowned. “What is he thinking? Anyone could see us.”_

_“Yeah, the hallway’s crowded with staff and nobles. Madeleine basically put you in the corner of the estate farthest from Liam. He must not have known.”_

_“Hmm...I can’t risk talking to him, but it wouldn’t be strange if you went to see him.”_

_Maxwell hesitated. “It might, if I didn’t have a reason.”_

_“What if you were returning a tie you borrowed?” Riley walked over to her suitcase. She had packed her three-piece suits months ago, when Maxwell had first invited her, but she hadn’t had occasion to wear them-or the ties that went with them. She pulled out a slate grey tie, before rifling through a pocket for a pen. “If I write him back and slip the note behind the strip on the back of it, can you get it to him?”_

_“That’s clever Riley.”_

_Riley allowed a small smile, before flipping Liam’s note over._ I’m not angry; I know you were put in an impossible position. I can’t risk being seen talking to you though. _She paused, then capped the pen, slipped the note under the tie’s strip, and then carefully rolled the tie. It would have to be enough._

_The next morning found Riley wide awake early, with an intense nicotine craving. She resolutely ignored her cigarette case and decided to take advantage of the quiet by going for a run. If she survived this ordeal, her lungs would thank her, and Madeleine’s estate was far too beautiful to be littered with even a single cigarette butt._

_Twenty minutes later, she felt calmer, until she rounded the corner to her room and saw an anxious-looking Liam rapping gently on her door. She suppressed a hiss as she quickly backtracked and ducked into an empty washroom. What the hell is wrong with him? She waited, peering through the door that she’d left cracked, until she heard footsteps and watched him pass by._

“I talked to Drake that evening. He filled me in on what happened the night of the Coronation, after I was taken to the airport, and about Liam’s plan. I asked him to relay the message that I wasn’t angry and that I was trying to lay low. Then I was distracted by investigating, press-wrangling, and barn-raising. But it wasn’t long before I had to decide if I was going to tell Liam the truth or continue stringing him along.”

 _Riley slowly made her way over to where Drake was staring down into the pool. A dip into icy cold water was probably her best course of action at the moment. She had taken up Hana’s suggestion to crash the men’s side of the spa in order to distract herself from the racing thoughts that the sight of Hana in a towel had produced (and the temptation to cajole Hana into going further than she was likely ready to go). Riley had been thrown for a loop at the sight of Maxwell in nothing but a towel._ He’s definitely your type, _an irritating little voice in her head had chimed in._ He’s kind and loyal, and that story about his tattoo shows that he’s not afraid to be vulnerable. Also he had that tattoo slapped right on some prime real estate, where you’d love to rest your head after-” Terrible, terrible idea, _she had chided herself._ Besides, he definitely sees you as an older sister. Remember the night of the Coronation when he said it was ‘nice to have a lady in House Beaumont again’? That word ‘again’ means he was placing you in the same general category as his mother. And you’re already risking a mountain of heartbreak by pursuing Hana. Run.

 _She stepped up beside Drake. "Trying to summon your courage?"  
"This is supposed to be good for you."  
"Oh?"  
"Yeah. Like most things in life, the best thing is sometimes the most painful. Want to do it with me?"  
Riley closed her eyes and jumped in without answering. For some reason, she was bristling at his assertion about the value of pain. He had a habit of saying such things, and it made him sound like a know-it-all. Paired with his tendency to play the long-suffering martyr by a) living among the nobility whom he despised, and b) mooning over the thought of having to watch his best friend marry a woman he’d actively tried to hate but then inexplicably fallen for, he was in danger of being cast as the moody cishet white guy who had no concept of his own privilege._ Be a little more judicious Zane, _Riley chided herself as she emerged, teeth chattering._ You’re no saint yourself.

_They hoisted themselves out of the water at the same time, and Riley accepted Drake’s offer to help her stand. “That was…”_

_“Intense?”_

_“Something like that.” She smiled and reached for a couple of dry towels, tossing him one before ducking into the changing room and replacing her soaked towel. She knotted the dry one as she padded over to the sauna, hoping that the steam room would suppress her shivering. She sat down on a bench and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply._

_“Riley?” Liam called out softly as he entered the sauna._

_Riley hesitated, then sighed. Her stomach twisted at the thought of actually talking to him. She opened her eyes and tried to school her expression. “Yeah, I’m decent.”_

_Liam smiled as he came into view, and Riley rued the lack of logic involved in human attraction. Here was the world’s kindest, most honorable man, who also happened to look as if he was directly descended from Apollo. If Riley were a photographer, she imagined she’d happily spend hours getting just the right lighting to capture the contrast between his blue eyes and his dark brown skin, to highlight those cheekbones that she could probably sharpen knives against. And the way he looked at her, as if she could play the strings of his heart, should be making her fall head over heels, instead of filling her with a sense of dread._

_“Riley,” he said as he settled next to her on the bench, “I’ve been desperate to speak with you alone.”_

_“You don’t have to explain Liam…”_

_“I know that Drake told you everything. It’s...something else. Madeleine knows I don’t love her.”_

_Riley nodded. “I know. She...made me an offer, when we were in Fydelia. I know she only wants the Crown.”_

_Liam’s eyes widened. “Oh, well, then I guess it’s probably obvious to you-how cunning and calculating she is.”_

Oh Liam, _she thought,_ it doesn't take much. Like recognizes like. _So...are you suggesting I be the other woman?_

_LIam took her hand. “There’s no one else for me Riley; you’d be the only woman in my heart.”_

_Riley bit her tongue to keep from snapping at him. She carefully pulled her hand free. “Liam, it would be a scandal waiting to happen.”_

_“Not if we’re careful.” HIs eyes were full of earnest longing._

A decent person would tell him the truth. Tell him that you’re only focused on clearing your name. Tell him that you don’t have feelings for him, and you never have. _“Liam, it doesn’t matter how careful we are; it’s too risky.” Riley held up a hand as she saw him open his mouth to protest. “I don’t think you realize what kind of position I’m in. I’ve already been made out to look like a slut, nevermind how misogynistic that is or the fact that you could have fucked every single one of your suitors and still not come under the same level of scrutiny.” She paused, gathering his reaction to her bluntness._

_Liam considered, then nodded. “You’re right. It’s not safe. We need to focus on clearing your name.” He bit his lip. “But Riley, once your name is cleared…” he trailed off._

_“Then we’ll see. But right now, I’m sure you can understand that my mind is occupied.”_

“As you can see, I was using him. I was afraid that he wouldn’t be interested in helping me clear my name if I was honest about my feelings.” Riley leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. “There he was, pouring his heart out. I had thought, as someone who had been prepared to marry for poltical reasons, that maybe I could be honest with him, but that ship had apparently sailed. And it was clear to me that doing the right thing and being honest was going to make me look, well, even worse than I already figured I would look.”

Porter nodded. “But at some point, something changed.”

Riley rubbed a hand wearily over her face before answering. “We went to Italy. I get this message one evening from Maxwell to meet Liam down on the beach. I get there and he wants to row out to a secluded cave. I thought about telling him no, but it occured to me that he wasn’t going to stop trying to woo me; that if we were going to be away from Cordonia that he would find ways to get me alone, since I had implied that I was only being reserved because I didn’t want to cause a scandal. So I decided I had to tell him the truth.”

Liam took a breath as he watched her on the laptop screen. The memory of that night at the Blue Grotto came to him, slotting neatly into place as if it were so many puzzle pieces.

_“Good evening.” Riley’s expression was carefully neutral._

_“Thank you for meeting me here Riley; I appreciate you bearing with me. I know we agreed not to risk courtship right now, but I wanted to take you to a place that’s special to me. It’s called the Blue Grotto. It’s a place my brother and I used to go, when we were younger and we wanted to...escape, for lack of a better word. I’d love to show it to you; it’s absolutely breathtaking.”_

_Riley opened her mouth to speak, hesitated, then sighed. “It sounds...romantic.”_

_“Potentially, yes. But I can assure you that we’re in no danger of discovery, and...I’m not expecting anything, aside from a conversation.” He paused, searching for the words. “I do think we need to discuss the future, and whatever...possibilities it may hold.”_

_Riley bit her lower lip, then nodded. “Okay.”_

_She was quiet as he rowed the boat to the Grotto, and Liam’s mind raced as he considered how he could put her at ease. He wondered, briefly, if it had been a mistake to ask her to come, but he pushed the thought away. He had been consumed with wondering lately if she would return to New York once the Engagement Tour was over, if she was unable to clear her name-or even if she was. He knew, from their conversations during the social season, that she was ambitious, passionate about politics, but also frustrated with both her own personal situation back home and the state of U.S. politics. But whether that was enough for her to consider staying in Cordonia….well, that was the question. He hoped that their conversation would put his fears to rest._

_“Wow,” she took in the sight around her as they entered the Grotto._

_LIam grinned. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”_

_“It is,” she agreed._

_“And it’s a perfect night to enjoy a swim.” Liam gestured to the water. “I think this occasion, ah, calls for disrobing.” He stood slowly and began to unbutton his shirt._

_“No.” She sighed. “I mean...you said you wanted to talk, and you implied that this wasn’t a date.” There was a sharpness in her voice that he hadn’t heard before, a steel in her tone that brooked no argument._

_Liam stilled, waiting for Riley to meet his gaze. “Something’s wrong.”_

_“Liam, I need to talk to you. And I need you to listen without interruption.”_

_“Of course.” He slowly sat back down._

_Riley squared her shoulders. “I...I haven’t been completely honest with you.” She took a shaky breath._

_“When Maxwell offered to sponsor me, I honestly didn’t think anything would come of it. I was at an...in-between place in my life. I was bored, and I had no idea what to do with myself.” She paused. “I was chasing the Crown, Liam. Maxwell saw something between us, and he thought I’d make a good future queen. I...I thought I could make a good politician sure. But I have never seen myself as the marrying sort, at least not for love.”_

_She paused, her fists clenched. She steadied her breathing and continued._

_“I thought, prior to the Coronation, that it would be fine. I would marry a man who had become a dear friend to me. I could give him everything he wanted except for one thing: my heart. And maybe eventually I could give him that as well. Because I’d be a fool not to at least try to fall for one of the best people I’d ever known.” Tears began to spill from her eyes. “But I can’t lie to you anymore. I don’t...feel the same way about you that you feel about me. I’m sorry I lied to you. I don’t deserve your forgiveness but I’m asking for it anyway, and I don’t deserve this either, but...please, let me stay long enough to clear my name. I promise you’ll never have to see me again after it’s over.” She wiped her eyes and met his gaze._

_Liam felt tears pricking at his own eyes It was a blow, but if he were being honest with himself, it was surprising, but not shocking. Prior to the Coronation, she’d been warm, friendly, but demure. She’d enchanted him with her free spirit, but she’d also been a model of propriety. His mind called up a memory of the night of the Coronation. She’d seemed nervous, distracted. He’d chalked it up to his own nervousness. But when the pictures came out, and the guards were pulling her away, she’d turned her back and walked out of the ballroom without looking back, without saying a word. Maxwell and Bertrand had protested, and Hana and Drake had strained against the guards, but Riley had just seemed resigned, almost disgusted. Since the Coronation, she’d been kind, but aloof. Maxwell had waved it off: “She’s in full-on detective mode right now,” and Liam had accepted it, that her coolness was a heightened sense of vigilance. But here was confirmation in front of him that he’d fallen prey to his own wishful thinking._

_He took a steadying breath, exhaling slowly. “Riley...I’ll never send you away. That’s a promise I can make to you.”_

_Riley bowed her head and allowed a sob to escape. “But I...I led you on. And I don’t know if I can ever…”_

_“You never made me any promises Riley. It’s alright. But I hope….well I hope that your feelings will change. But I’ll never hold it against you if they don’t.” He inhaled shakily before letting it out slowly and continuing. “Right now, it’s important that we uncover those who are plotting against us. And in the meantime, your safety is my utmost concern.”_

“That was the closest I came to telling him the entire truth. But I still kept secrets for leverage. I was worried that Liam wouldn’t help me if he knew that I was trying to romance Hana the entire time I was in Cordonia.”

“Is that the only reason you didn’t tell him about your feelings for Hana?”

“Why else?”

“She wasn’t out yet. You don’t strike me as someone who would out another person.”

“I suppose you’re right.” She sighed. “And ultimately, it didn’t matter. Part of Hana’s journey to coming into her own involved learning who she was. Not who she was as a daughter, or as someone’s future wife, but as herself. And that meant that she needed to walk away from the idea of a romantic relationship.”

_“Alright, I think our pillow fortress is strong enough to withstand an invasion. Or at least our lack of architectural education. Or did your parents include those in some of your lessons growing up?”_

_Hana giggled. “I had some drawing lessons, but they stopped short of engineering training. This looks like a very comfortable space though.” She settled into the cushions with a contented sigh. “What’s next on the sleepover checklist?”_

_“Well, there’s not a checklist per se, but I think we have two cute girls in pajamas, so my vote is for making out.”_

_Hana bit her bottom lip. “Riley, about that…”_

_Riley’s eyes widened. “Oh, I...Hana I don’t ever mean to pressure you.”_

_“Oh Riley, I know. It’s just...I spent a lot of time thinking this afternoon.” She looked down for a moment, before meeting Riley’s gaze with resolve. “And if I’m being honest, I’ve been confused about my feelings for a while.” She sat up straighter, her smile nervous. “I care about you, and I’m so glad Maxwell decided to sponsor you. You’ve given me the courage to choose my own path. And I need to tell you...I don’t want to be in a romantic relationship right now-with anyone. I feel like I’m just starting to find myself, and I need to figure out who I am before I figure out who I am with someone else.” She huffed a shaky breath. “I guess I’m saying...we should break up.” Her face fell. “And I hate calling it that, because you’re still my best friend, or at least, I hope we’ll still be best friends. I don’t want to lose you.”_

_Riley squeezed Hana’s hand. “I’m so proud of you Hana.”_

_Hana’s eyes widened. “You’re not upset?”_

_“I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but Hana, you’re my best friend, and that’s not a consolation prize.”_

_“Oh Riley, thank you.” Hana shuffled over to embrace her. “I don’t ever want to hurt you, but I...well…”_

_Riley returned the embrace, breathing in the scent of Hana, preparing to close the door on a future she’d envisioned. “It’s okay Hana; I understand. She held her close for several long moments. “Hana,” she pulled away and matched Hana’s gaze. “I would rather have you in my life as my friend than not have you in my life because we’re not a couple.”_

_Hana took Riley’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “You’re so good to me Riley.”_

_“It’s nothing less than you deserve. I will always, always have your back Hana.”_

_Hana settled back on the pillows, sighing in relief. “I’m so glad to hear you say that.”_

_Riley leaned back on the pillows, bumping shoulders companionably with Hana. A comfortable silence passed between them for several minutes. Riley bit her lip nervously. “You don’t have to answer this question if you’re not ready, or if you don’t know, but-do you think, somewhere down the road, that we might have a chance to be more than friends?”_

_Hana smiled, turning to her side to meet Riley’s gaze. “I think it’s a possibility, but Riley, I don’t want you and me to come between you and...someone else.”_

_Riley frowned. “Hana, I...I don’t have feelings for Liam. When all of this started...I was in a not-so-great place in my life. Maxwell’s offer was an opportunity to sort of...figure things out, I guess, crazy as it now seems. Liam seemed like someone I could fall for, but...I don’t think it’s going to happen.”_

_Hana reached for her hand. “Well, I just want you to feel completely free to...if you do fall for someone, whoever it is, pursue them.”_

“That was the trip where we got Drake and Maxwell to mend fences, and Constantine to confess to everything. Bastien shared what he’d found on Tariq, and we were closing in on him. It felt like my time in Cordonia was coming to an end.”

“But there were things left to do, decisions left to be made,” Porter prompted. 

She clasped her hands together, resting them on the table. “With Hana making her decision, I decided that, regardless of whether we found Tariq or not, I would stay in the U.S.”

“Besides that conversation with Hana, what happened in Shanghai to convince you?”

Riley set her mouth in a thin line. “It was after speaking with Constantine in the hospital.”

Liam looked away from the laptop screen, staring up at the fluorescent lights in the ceiling. He clenched his fists at a memory that was still rife with pain.

_“Once I realized I could not be there to help Liam face such threats, I...I had to secure Cordonia’s future. It was obvious how Liam felt about you. Given the choice, I knew he would ask you to be his queen. I must admit, you impressed me. I had low expectations for such a newcomer at court, but you’ve proven resilient and intelligent. Still, you could not compete with Madeleine. Thanks to her former betrothal to Liam’s brother, she’s spent years preparing to be queen, whereas your inexperience could be seen as weakness, and weakness, even in appearance-especially in appearance, is often fatal. I’ve lost so much to Cordonia’s enemies, and when I am gone, there will be no one left to protect my son from those same enemies. One mis-step, and Liam could lose his kingdom, or even his life. Madeleine was my best hope of keeping him...and Cordonia...safe. So I took steps to ensure that he would choose her to be his wife.” Constantine held Riley’s gaze, but his eyes suddenly betrayed his exhaustion._

_“Which is why you also conspired against Olivia,” Riley replied._

_“Yes, she is much too rash to ever sit upon the throne, especially in light of her family’s history.”_

_Riley kept her gaze locked with Constantine’s. “I forgive you. I can’t condone what you did, but I understand your reasons.”_

_Constantine stared at her in a rare moment of speechlessness. “I...you’re more gracious than I would be in your position, Lady Riley.”_

_There was ice in Riley’s tone at her next words. “I do want you to live with this, however. There is a very fine line between sexual harassment and sexual assault. That night Tariq came into my room sent me right back to a much, much worse night ten years ago. It took a lot of time and a lot of therapy to stop being afraid of every man who crossed my path, to stop being hyper-vigilant, to stop having flashbacks and nightmares. That night set me back a bit, but it was those photos, and people looking at me as if I was the one who should be on trial, that made it feel as if I was being raped all over again. And that is because of choices that you made, because of your manipulation and the way you abused your power. I don’t want you to end your life without peace, but I do want you to have to wrestle with that, with some of the time you have left.” She held Constantine’s gaze, unflinching, her posture straight._

_Liam stepped up to stand beside her. It took everything within him to keep his tone even and measured. “I didn’t want to believe that you, of all people, would ever do this.”_

_Constantine looked at Liam, pleading in his eyes. “Liam, please. I know that I’ve hurt you, but this is the price of wearing the crown. I couldn’t afford to put your happiness, or Riley’s, above our people’s future. You will have to make sacrifices of your own sooner or later.”_

_Liam clenched his fists. “Our happiness!? You sacrificed Riley’s safety and well-being! And you act as though you didn’t have a choice. But you made a choice about what kind of king...what kind of father...you wanted to be.” Liam paused, breathing in and out slowly. “Here is mine. Lady Riley has earned her place in Cordonia. I may not have been able to stop you from hurting her, but I can still make this right. As the King of Cordonia, I am placing her under my protection. I will keep her safe. I will help her right the wrongs that have been done to her. And I am commanding you, as your monarch, to help us in any way you can.”_

_Constantine opened his mouth, as if to protest, before his shoulders slumped. “Very well. I only hope that my fears are proven wrong.”_

_“How am I supposed to know that I can trust your word?” Riley’s countenance revealed little, but her eyes were flashing._

_“It’s all I have to offer. If my son wishes to keep an eye on me, that is up to him. Though I suspect I’ll be confined to my bed in the near future.” He shifted uncomfortably. “Unfortunately, I cannot come forward to clear your name myself.”_

_“Why not?”_

_“Admitting my involvement would shake the Cordonian people’s faith in their rulers; past and present.”_

_Liam’s shoulders slumped. “He...he has a point, Riley”_

_Riley nodded. “True. Powerful men being exposed for using women and throwing them away like garbage does tend to shake up a society.”_

_Constantine cast his eyes downward, before looking between Riley and LIam. “To set things right, you must find Tariq. Even I don’t know his whereabouts. I encouraged him to leave Cordonia, but I’ve had no contact with him since.”_


	8. Chapter 8

“I guess you could say that I’d checked all of my tasks off the to-do list, save for that last one.” Riley drummed her fingers on the table, her eyebrows knit in concentration. 

“What is it Riley?”

“Olivia had told me not to ‘leave Liam in Madeleine’s clutches’ and I chalked it up to Olivia just not liking Madeleine. I mean, I still do. I think Madeleine would have handled the role of Queen well.” She slumped in her chair, exhaustion and defeat in her eyes. “I should have left the night of the Coronation.” It came out so low that it was nearly a whisper.

Porter looked down at his notepad. “If there is a silver lining for Constantine orchestrating a scandal, I would say it’s that it allowed Liam a choice.” He made eye contact with Riley. “If you had never gone to Cordonia, the most likely outcome is that Liam and Madeleine would have married. By itself, that doesn’t sound terrible. I...cannot fathom how that would have changed Anton Severus’ presence in Cordonia. Presumably, he still would have proceeded with some sort of plan. It’s impossible to say how that would have played out. What do you think would have happened to Savannah, Maxwell, Bertrand, and Hana?”

Riley scowled. “It’s all speculation.”

Porter gestured to the room around him. “I told you what I needed from you. So speculate. Speculate your way out of this room.”

Riley held his gaze for several moments, before looking down briefly. She sighed and straightened. “I would like to think that Liam would have chosen Hana, had they never walked into my bar that night in New York. He told me once that he was confident she would have been a good choice, but he couldn’t do that to her...to put her in another engagement she didn’t want to be in. But perhaps he would have chosen Madeleine. I stand by my assessment that Madeleine would have done well in that role.” She paused. “It hurts to think what could have happened to Hana, but...Hana has always had that strength in her. I think it’s likely that she would have found her footing sooner or later anyway. As far as Savannah and Bertrand and Maxwell...that would have come to a head at some point. They’re not helpless. They would have figured things out.”

There was a shift in her tone of voice as she finished her sentence, her voice wavering, her careful countenance slipping. She slumped forward and wrapped her arms around herself, her breaths becoming ragged. “It doesn’t matter if I ever walk out of here; I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to think my way out of this room.”

Porter waited for Riley to stop shaking and crying. To Liam, it felt like an eternity. He looked away from the laptop screen and counted silently to ten before refocusing his attention

Porter poured some more water for both of them, pushing a cup towards Riley. “Drink some water. Take your time, then tell me what you mean.”

Riley obeyed, shoulders still slumped. “Maxwell. He stood the least to gain, and now he stands to lose the most, all because I returned to Cordonia. I should have walked away.”

Porter tilted his head to the side. “Why did Maxwell sponsor you?”

“He gave me a few reasons. To restore House Beaumont. But that was for his brother’s sake. Because he thought Liam deserved a chance at love. Because he thought I could be what Cordonia needed. He never would have told me how I felt, I don’t think, had I not told him first.” She closed her eyes, a few tears falling as she opened them again. “I think that might be one reason I fell for him; he didn’t chase me. He let me decide.” Liam had to strain to hear her last words through her sobs. “I don’t deserve his forgiveness. I don’t deserve any of them, but least of all him.”

Porter waited, softly drumming his fingers on the tabletop. “Riley, if you had a choice to go back in time, and not take the assignment, and never set foot in Cordonia...would you take it?”

Riley looked at him for several moments. “What happens to Liam and Olivia in this scenario? Are they safe from Anton?”

“Hypothetically, no.”

“So if I want to help them, I have to go through everything, up to and including this interrogation?”

“Yes.”

Her next breaths were shallow, but steady. “Then no. I returned to Cordonia because I thought it might be the place where I could do the most good. If I had to go through all of this to stop Anton Severus, then it would be worth it all.” 

“When you leave here, what will you miss the most?”

Riley’s eyes flicked to the tabletop, then back to Porter. “Maxwell.” She didn’t elaborate.

“Let’s say Anton Severus didn’t exist. If you could go back in time, to that night that your name was finally cleared, would you ask Maxwell to leave Cordonia, and stay in the U.S. with you?”

Exhaustion seemed to wash over Riley’s face. “I don’t know.”


	9. Chapter 9

Liam closed his eyes and went back to the last night in New York City.

_“Hello Riley. Thank you for coming.” His heart beat faster at the sight of her, even as he felt a certain dread in his stomach. She was never easy to read, and tonight was no exception. But he had a feeling that he was going to have his heart broken all over again._

_“I asked you to come so that we could go see the Statue of Liberty together one more time. It seemed like the most appropriate place for us to talk.”_

_She looked at him, her eyes raking over his face as if she were trying to read him. “For sentimental reasons?” she finally asked._

_He paused. “Yes. It’s where this journey began, and I wanted to communicate to you, tonight, that my life is better for having met you all those months ago.”_

_She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, and when she opened them again, she looked as if she were near tears. “Liam, I’m in love with Maxwell.”_

_His face must have shown his surprise, because she continued, rapidly. “Neither of us saw it coming; but the other night, at the UN party, we talked, and...well, we’re done fighting it.” She stopped, and her shoulders drooped. “I don’t want to hurt you, or affect your friendship with Maxwell, but...I can’t-I won’t apologize for how I feel about him.”_

_Liam closed his eyes. Mentally, he said goodbye to a possibility he’d hoped for. When he opened them again, she looked dejected, her shoulders slumped and her mouth turned down. “Riley, it’s alright. I can’t say that my feelings aren’t...complicated, but I would never hold it against you or Maxwell.”_

_Her eyes were still wary and guarded. “Okay…” she bit the inside of her cheek nervously._

_“I didn’t ask you here to propose matrimony Riley. I promise,” he added as she exhaled shakily. “I did want to talk about the future though.”_

_“Liam, what will you do without a fiancee? I just...feel like I’ve complicated your future.”_

_“It’s not a bad thing Riley. It’s true that there’s no precedent for ruling without a Queen, but it will be alright.” He offered her a smile that he hoped was reassuring. “And you’ve bought me some time, which is more valuable than what you know.”_

_“Liam…” but she was interrupted by the approach of their boat._

_“Hold that thought,” he told her._

_He watched as she took in the skyline as the boat carried them. The image of her in front of him was a stark contrast to the relaxed young woman who had pulled the strings to give him a chance to see the famous landmark months ago. Now she seemed contemplative, the weight of decision almost visible on her shoulders._

_They took a few moments to take in the sight of Lady Liberty. Liam took a deep breath before he began. “Riley, do you recall the night we met, how I asked you what drove you? You said you wanted to make your time on this earth matter, that you wanted to find the place you would do the most good.”_

_“I remember.” She looked up at him._

_“Do you feel as if, these last few months, you’ve accomplished that?”_

_She paused, her eyes narrowing in thought. Her words were careful, measured. “It seems as if I spent most of my time putting out fires, rather than...accomplishing anything.”_

_Liam couldn’t help but smile. “An appropriate metaphor, for a variety of reasons. But you didn’t light any of those fires.”_

_Riley folded her arms across her chest. “Didn’t I though? Or at least, add fuel to them? I showed up at the masquerade, entering into a competition to win your hand in marriage, letting you think that I was in it for more than the Crown, and not telling you the truth until I was backed into a corner.”_

_“Riley, you never made me any promises. Even when we were alone together, you were...warm, but also reserved. You were the model of propriety. If you’re worried that you led me on, I can assure you that you didn’t. And it’s not your fault that the game, for lack of a better word, is set up the way it is.” He grimaced. “Perhaps it’d be...more honest, if it were designed as a series of job interviews, but that wouldn’t play as well for the press or the public I suppose.” He pursed his lips, choosing his next words carefully. “What I want you to think about, is how you handled yourself throughout, for one. You exhibited remarkable grace under immense pressure. And you did so much for your friends, changing all of our lives for the better, pushing us to have the courage to do what needed to be done.”_

_Her eyes still seemed full of uncertainty, but she nodded. “Liam-thank you. I don’t know if I can see myself the way you see me, but...I think I can get there.”_

_He gave her a careful smile. “That’s a great start. Will you do one more thing with me tonight? Will you go to the top of the Statue with me?”_

_She blinked, surprised. “Oh. Sure.”_

_They reached the top, both somewhat out of breath from the long climb. For several moments they just stood, looking out on the Harbor. Liam finally broke the silence. “What’s on your mind Riley?”_

_“I guess I’m saying goodbye.” She slowly turned to him._

_“Are you saying you’re planning to return to Cordonia?”_

_She frowned. “I don’t know. I...don’t know if there’s anything I can do there, practically speaking.” She shrugged. “Regardless, I think I’m leaving New York. There’s not enough here to make me stay, and I need to find a less expensive city to try to start over in.”_

_“Riley, had you and I decided to marry, you would have received a Duchy. There are a few in Cordonia that don’t have a Duke or Duchess currently overseeing them. I would like to appoint you Duchess over one, if you’re amenable to the idea.”_

_Riley’s eyes widened. “Really? You want to make me a Duchess?”_

_“Yes. You’re more than qualified. And on a more selfish note, you’re one of my best friends and I wish to have you remain in my life. And I can promise you this: you will have a place in Cordonia for as long as you wish to make it your home.”_

When he opened his eyes again, he could see through the laptop screen that guards had entered the room to take Riley back to her cell. He watched for a moment as Porter jotted down a few notes, then stood to leave the room himself. Liam sighed and stood, his stomach twisting in anticipation.

Porter’s appearance had changed, almost imperceptibly, but there was a slight slump in his shoulders and dark circles under his eyes.

“It seems as if your plan worked Dr. Porter. I know I’m a layperson in this regard, but it appeared to me that she trusted you.”

Porter nodded. “In my professional opinion, our tactics worked. It will be important to review the footage, but I think we’ll find that the majority of her eye contact and body language will be typical of those who are being truthful.” He paused. “The last questions I asked...and her answers, were particularly telling. She didn’t feel as if she had anything to gain from lying.”

“Then it seems that I have a decision to make.”

**

Liam looked up at the bell tower, remembering the night Leo told him about his decision to abdicate. He remembered the moment when he knew he was ready to answer the call, to take on the role of King

He closed his eyes, recalling how the answer seemed to come from within him, and how all the voices of all of his advisors had silenced, the answer bringing a sense of peace and grounding with it.

He opened his eyes, and all was quiet.

**

Riley’s eyes were trained intently on the door of her cell as Liam opened it and walked in, closing it behind him. He stood, posture straight, giving her an appraising look. She hestitated before standing and giving a hasty bow, her eyes not quite meeting his.

“Sit down Riley.” She obeyed, eyes downcast, hands clasped in her lap. He sat down beside her, leaving half a meter between them.

“I’ve been thinking a great deal about Lady Justice these past several days Riley. I think you’d agree that she’s a powerful image, with her sword, but especially her scales. I fancied myself in her position, with a set of scales. It seemed to me that the most appropriate way to judge your case was by weighing the lies you told against the truths you told. Of course I also took into account the fact that fact that your particular situation fell well outside the legal definition of treason and technically outside the legal definition of espionage.” He paused, searching her face. Her eyes seemed to flash as she processed what he was telling her. Finally, she turned her head to look him in the eye.

“I came to the decision that I would offer you amnesty.”

Riley straightened, a sharp inhale punctuating the silence as Liam paused.

“Riley, I consulted Maxwell, Bertrand, Savannah, Hana, Olivia, and Drake. They each watched Dr. Porter’s interview, seperately. Each one chose, on their own, to exonerate you.” Liam paused. “As each one made this decision within an hour upon completion of watching the footage, I asked them to wait twenty-four hours and then report back, and not deliberate with anyone else. Upon reconvening with each one, their unanimonity remained. I therefore feel confident in my decision to offer you amnesty.”

Riley stiffened, as if she was elastic being pulled taut.

Liam caught her, erasing the distance between them in order to gather her into his arms as she broke down, her body shaking with her sobs.

“Are...are you sure?” she gasped, pulling away to meet his gaze.

“Do you recall the night I appointed you as a Duchess? Do you remember that I made a promise that you would always have a home in Cordonia?”

Riley nodded, then managed a shaky ‘yes.’

“Your actions have not necessitated breaking that promise.”

Riley straightened and took several steadying breaths, wating for the shaking to subside.. “Thank you Liam. I….I will endeavor to be worthy of that promise.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder. “You already have, my friend.”

“It’s not all that simple though, right?” Her eyes, though still tear-filled, contained her characteristic shrewdness. “I mean, I’m not going to walk out of here just right back to everything being exactly the same. And while my family and our friends have exonerated me...I’m going to have to earn their forgiveness.”

Liam nodded. “I am increasing your security. And along with that, you will be under increased surveillance. I don’t mean Orwellian levels by any means, but the additions to your staff will mean that you are under a higher level of scrutiny.” He paused. “As far as your other concern...Drake and Hana will be waiting for you at Valtoria. I don’t suspect you’ll have to do much to remain in their good graces, or in Olivia’s, for that matter.” He sighed. “I would advise you to give Bertrand some space, for now. He was adamant about amnesty, but also…”

“Hurt.”

“Yes. You know him very well.” Liam placed a hand on Riley’s arm. “You may recall that Maxwell had those book signings in North America…”

Her jaw stiffened. “Yes. Is he...has he left yet? I...I’ve lost track of time in here.” Her voice broke.

“He has. He also indicated that he would extend his visit.” He hesitated. “He’s made it clear that he also wants some space right now, though less in words than in some pains he’s taken to ensure that he can’t be reached. Bertrand has told me that he left his phone behind, and he’s not using credit cards that can be tracked. He apparently is checking in periodically via email.” He paused, searching for words. “I’ve known Maxwell for a very long time. Loyalty is a defining trait of his. I know it’s going to be difficult, but I believe you just have to wait for him to come back to you.”

She nodded, allowing a few more tears to fall as she bowed her head, her shoulders slumping. “Liam...how are you even able to forgive me so easily?”

Liam took both her hands in his. “Riley, the council of our friends and the good of the nation were enough to sway me in your favor. Your history of service to Cordonia in a short time is quite compelling. But I also have reasons of my own.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “When it became clear that you wouldn’t be Cordonia’s queen, I was devastated. I told myself that it was the best thing for you, and I kept reminding myself that it was for your happiness. Since then, I’ve been able to accept that you made the best decision for not just you and Maxwell, but for me as well. It was something I always understood on an intellectual level, but somewhere along the way, I began to understand it on an emotional level as well.” He paused, searching for the next words. “More importantly, I have no reservations-no regrets about making you a duchess. You are good for Cordonia. You have earned your place here because of your actions, and I will do everything I can to make sure you never forget that.”

Riley gave a shaky exhale. “Thank you.”

Liam squeezed her hands before letting them go. “There is one more thing. I’ve asked Dr. Porter to return to Valtoria with you. Officially, you’ll be spending the next several weeks working on Cordonia’s Mental Health Initiative. But I also want you to rely on him as you work through this.”

She nodded, a few more tears escaping, her face drawn in exhaustion.

“Someone will be in with a change of clothes for you. Take a few minutes to get freshened up.” He gave her a small smile. “Game face Riley.”

She locked eyes with him and nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ****content warnings**** Past sexual assault is mentioned, though not described. Infertility is dealt with, along with ambivalent feelings about parenting.

She'll let you in her house  
If you come knockin' late at night  
She'll let you in her mouth  
If the words you say are right  
If you pay the price  
She'll let you deep inside  
But there's a secret garden she hides

-Bruce Springsteen, Secret Garden

_“Riley, where are you?” Maxwell searched the crowd frantically, but she was lost from sight in the chaos. He knew she was within reach, but if she was answering, her voice was drowned out by the panicked voices and the sounds of gunshots._

The noise of gunfire faded into a persistent tapping. Maxwell opened his eyes and squinted, the harsh beam of a flashlight piercing the darkness.

“Highway Patrol, I need you to roll your window down.”

Maxwell fumbled for the ignition so he could acquiesce to the officer’s request. The cool night air shook the last vestiges of sleep from him.

“License and registration please.”

Maxwell fumbled for his wallet and rental documents, finally handing them over. Satisfied after a brief perusal, the officer returned them through the open window.

“I’m afraid there’s no overnight parking here sir. If you get back on the highway and drive about twelve miles south, you’ll come to a truck stop. It has a well-lit parking lot, much safer than here. And it only cost a few dollars for a shower.” The officer, keeping his flashlight angled downward, peered at Maxwell. “Unless you need some help. Are you in any trouble sir?”

_Well I just found recently that my wife lied to not just me but most of her friends and basically an entire country about a part of her identity. And my friends and I agreed to let her off the hook, and while all the evidence says she deserves the amnesty we just gave her and we can trust her and she was honest about most of the important stuff, I don’t have the guts to face her and I feel like the ground is missing beneath me and you see, it has a habit of doing that, of just shifting constantly, and at this point I don’t know if I’ll ever regain my footing._

“I’m fine officer. I’ll just be on my way.” The officer nodded and walked back to his car. Maxwell carefully maneuvered the car out of the parking lot and back on the highway. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he let his mind wander.

The irony wasn’t lost on him.

He hadn’t taken off because of Riley’s lie, not really. Far be it from him to pretend that he was above lying to protect someone. It wasn’t that he thought she was dishonest about wanting him. He was certain that she believed she had fallen for him. He just wasn’t certain that it was real.

She was the same Riley he’d convinced to get on a plane in New York City, the same Riley who had chipped away at Drake’s walls, coaxed Hana out of her shell, pushed Bertrand in the right direction, helped Liam to come into his own, and saw potential in him when no one else had.

And wasn’t that the problem? He had thought that he’d done the same for her. For all of his romantic musings about how he couldn’t believe that such an incredible woman had fallen for him, he really had thought they were, at the end of the day, equals.

_“You know you’re cute when you’re concentrating?” Riley’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see her holding a cup of tea for each of them._

_“Thank you,” he replied, accepting the cup. “I guess it’s a good thing ‘cute’ is your type._

_“Oh, you think I have a type?” she settled in the chair next to him._

_“Obviously. How else would you explain how chose me over a Prince and a knight?”_

_She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not sure why everyone wants to stick with this...fairy tale Disney princess theme for me.”_

_Maxwell grinned. “You have to admit, it makes your story even more fascinating.”_

_She took a sip of her tea, contemplating. “Okay, but you know I’m not a Cinderella type. Not really. If I’m going to be compared to a Disney character, it could at least be Mulan.”_

_“Why Mulan?”_

_“Honestly? It’s the only Disney movie I’ve watched multiple times. It’s far superior.”_

_Maxwell tilted his head to one side. “Hmm...I can see it. Plucky young woman throws herself into a dangerous situation, impresses everyone with what a badass she is after they doubt her.”_

_Riley grinned. “I do like your assessment. But personally, I always just liked that she did what had to be done because it was the right thing to do.”_

The glaring headlights of a lone car snapped Maxwell back to the present. He swallowed a lump that was forming in his throat. Riley even had the secret identity angle in common with her preferred character. Now the question was if they could maintain their happily ever after. She’d proven herself, no question. But the timeline was all wrong; it was supposed to go in a different order: discovery of actual identity, trust broken, trust regained. She’d skipped a very important step.

 _And if she had told the truth back then?_ The question reverberated in his mind. He didn’t have an answer, just as he didn’t really have an answer as to why he was on this aimless, meandering road trip. He had thought that time and space would provide him with what he needed, but the real problem was that he didn’t know what he needed.

 _I need to know if what we have is real,_ he thought.

Maxwell was jolted out of his brooding by the lit-up parking lot of the truck stop. He sniffed the stale air in the car and grimaced. The officer had been wise to recommend availing himself of the showers. 

One shower later, he felt marginally better, but still exhausted. He crawled back into the car, locking the doors, and fell into an uneasy sleep.

_“Riley, I can’t find you!” Maxwell’s eyes burn from the acrid smoke in the air, any sounds save for the roar of flames and the crash of walls falling drowned out._

_“Maxwell!” Riley’s voice answers, muffled at first, then clearer. She emerges through the smoke. “Maxwell, I can get us out. Take my hand.”_

_Maxwell reaches for her hand, but when he looks into familiar brown eyes, he hesitates. They’re unmistakably her’s; he’s spent what must add up to hours staring into them, but a sense of dread fills him. He pulls away._

_“Maxwell!” Her eyes turn pleading, and she takes a few steps closer to him._

_“I don’t…” he steps back, even though everything in him is telling him to take her hand, and he feels the floor give way beneath him._

The mid-morning sunlight and the sounds of engines and slamming car doors pulled Maxwell out of sleep, but the dream remained with him as he made his way back into the truck stop to use the washroom and piece together some semblance of a breakfast, as he sipped coffee from a paper cup, and as he slid into the driver’s seat. It wasn’t difficult to decipher why his brain had supplied him with the dream, but he was no closer to deciding how he was going to deal with this situation.

Maxwell checked his mirrors and and started the engine. He glanced at the guages and returned to the highway, ultimately deciding to continue south. As he drove, he tried to find a path in his tangled thoughts. _I can’t just not go home, and I can’t divorce her either. People have little else to do but talk, and how would we explain?_ It was a jarring thought, and Maxwell felt his hands tighten on the steering wheel. _I can't divorce her because I love her._ Tears came to his eyes. It seemed so simple, but it was anything but..

 _This isn't the first crisis your marriage has survived._ The memory meandered through his mind like the landscape that scrolled past his window.

_Maxwell had Dr. Ramirez’s sympathy expressions memorized already, the way her brow furrowed and caused the little crinkle between her eyes, the way her mouth was turned down just slightly, enough to show her sadness but still soft, as if she could cushion a blow. “I’m afraid the egg retrieval was unsuccessful again. I’m sorry, Your Graces.”_

_Maxwell glanced at his wife. Riley was a master of the poker face, but she had large eyes, and he knew her well enough to decipher the feelings in them. Where he thought he might find sorrow, he found fear instead, mixed with what looked like relief._

_He held her hand on the car ride back to the estate, as they walked through the doors of their home, and as he drew her into the parlor. “Sit with me?” She sat, not looking at him._

_“I wasn’t ready either,” he said after a moment._

_She looked at him, her eyebrows raised in surprise. “Maxwell,” she said after a moment, “it’s no longer a matter of being ready or not. I’ll likely never be able to conceive.”_

_Maxwell squeezed her hand. “Riley, when we were engaged I decided that I liked the thought of having kids, but also that it would be okay if we didn’t have them. You know, if, for some reason, we wouldn’t be able to, or if...you didn’t want them.” He watched the motion of her neck as she stiffened and swallowed._

_“I’ve never wanted kids,” she said, her gaze unwavering. “But I was prepared to have them, for you, and for the Crown.” She looked down. “I wasn’t looking forward to it, but then I thought about a little Maxley running around, about you holding our baby, and teaching them how to….well, how to Beaumont, and, while I can’t say I completely fell in love with the idea, I was at peace with it. More than that, really. It felt right, if not...enticing.”_

_He could leave it at that, pull her into his arms and take a reprieve from thinking about having to break the news to Liam tomorrow, but there was something else in her eyes, something that he couldn’t put his finger on, something that had to be addressed. “Riley, that’s not all, is it? There’s something else about this that’s got you all twisted.”_

_Tears sprang to her eyes. “This is my fault. I should have had it looked into, after the infection wasn’t treated properly the first time and after I had to go into the hospital again. I should have gotten tested before we got married, so you would….have known, and...had the chance to make a decision.”_

_Maxwell took a steadying breath, knowing he would need to tread carefully. “Riley, listen.” He cupped her chin in one hand, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb. “There’s not a single ounce of this that is your fault. It’s not your fault that that bastard raped you and gave you an STI, and it’s not your fault that the doctors didn’t treat it properly or that the antibiotics didn’t work properly or whatever. And it’s not as if you could have predicted any of this, especially not the whole being asked to produce an heir thing.” He sighed and shifted, putting his arms around her. “And even if you had gotten tested before we got married, and found out that you wouldn’t be able to conceive, it wouldn’t have changed my mind. Liam will figure out something else, and the Court...and Cordonia, will just have to deal. And if they can’t, well, we’ll run away together and live happily ever after, and we may or may not find some orphans like us to adopt along the way.”_

_Riley wrapped her arms around him and lay her head on his shoulder. “How did I ever get so lucky?”_

Maxwell remembered thinking, in such a vulnerable moment, that it was some sort of test that they had just passed. If their marriage could weather this, it could weather anything. It had felt in that moment that they were two equals, growing together, iron sharpening iron.

He blinked through his tears and focused on road sign in the distance, the one that alerted him to a potential exit. He would have to choose: continue south, or head east. He thought about Riley, how she’d let him in. His mind conjured an image of a house, and he was following her through it as she showed him the doors to each and every room.  
_“What about that one?” In his imagination, he’s pointing to a tiny door beneath a set of stairs. She places a hand on his cheek and looks into his eyes. “There’s nothing to see there,” she whispers. “Nothing worth mentioning, anyhow.”_

_“What’s in there?” he asks. “A skeleton? A bomb?”_

_Her face falls. “Something I’m trying to outrun.”_

_“Why don’t you let me help you then?”_

_“Because I’m afraid it’ll hurt you. I’m afraid it’ll take you away from me.”_

Maxwell let out a shaking sigh and prepared to exit to head east. It didn’t matter that he was tangled up with indecision; he couldn't run forever. It was time to go home.


	11. Chapter 11

“The only flight that will get you to Cordonia within the next twenty-four hours has connections in New York, Dublin, and Paris.” The ticket agent in Fort Worth gave Maxwell an apologetic look.

Maxwell flashed her a reassuring smile. “No worries. That’s what I get for buying a ticket at the last minute.” He produced his card and accepted the boarding pass. He had considered waiting until he could procure use of House Zane’s private jet, but there was something about the time a commercial flight will take that Maxwell found necessary. The hero’s journey wasn’t supposed to be easy. 

He laughed softly at the thought. If Riley could hear his thoughts, she’d tease him for thinking flying commercially was a hardship. _"You should make it your next novel,"_ she would say, _It would stretch your writing muscles, to work on a satire."_

His smile faltered. The ache of missing her warred with the uncertainty of returning to her. 

The dull pain between his shoulders was creeping up his neck. He sat down on one of the airport’s hard chairs and rifled through his backpack for paracetamol and his last bottle of water. The bottle of medicine was still in the plastic bag that had the truck stop’s logo emblazoned on the side. The flimsy material ripped as he pulled it out of the backpack, and the deck of cards he’d purchased on a whim tumbled out, spilling some of the cards on the floor.

Maxwell swallowed two of the pills and reached down to clean up the mess. He paused as he caught sight of a joker card, nestled between an Ace of Hearts and a King of Diamonds. A memory came to him, of a quiet moment from the Unity Tour.

_Maxwell yawned and draped one arm around Riley’s shoulders. She rolled her eyes and gave him a fond smile as she snuggled next to him._

_“Did you see Kiara’s face when Ezekiel let it slip that she thinks Drake is hot?”_

_Riley chuckled. “I have to confess to having a moment of schadenfreude.”_

_“Oh me too. But I kind of sympathize-or is it empathize? I can never remember which one. Whatever; I can emsympathize with Kiara.”_

_“Right...you grew up with Drake and watched that glow up.” Riley poked him playfully in his side._

_“Hey now. Don’t even tell me that you have never drank in the sight of Drake Walker without a shirt on.”_

_“He’s attractive, sure. But he’s lacking in hippo tattoos, so....”_

_“Fortunately for me.” Maxwell pressed a kiss to her forehead. “But you probably don’t know what it’s like to have an unrequited crush, because you’re the one everyone is falling for.”_

_“Hey,” she held up her hands. “That is an extremely recent and even more puzzling development in my life. I’m more intrigued by what Ezekiel said about me; Kiara apparently made me sound like a wild card.”_

_“Well, it makes sense; didn’t you dub yourself the ‘adventurous American lone wolf’? And you went for the Jester instead of the Prince, which is a very unexpected development.”_

_Riley scoffed. “Hardly. You know jokers are wild cards, right? And there are two in every deck. So really, I could only end up with you, my perfect match.”_

_Maxwell pulled her a little closer. “You’re not jester material though.”_

_“Aren’t I? Look at the way the press treated me after those photos came out. And you know as well as I do that I’m going to have to work twice as hard now, being the foreign commoner turned Duchess.”_

_“I guess it’s a good thing you’ve got your fellow jester by your side then. Our combined powers will make us unstoppable."_

Maybe he was overthinking it, desperately searching for a sign, Maxwell mused as he picked up the cards and shoved them back into the box. But it was undeniable that he and Riley were two of a kind. They had both been willing to risk their own happiness for their king; he having been willing, once upon a time, to let her go, and she by turning herself in. Fortunately for them, their king was Liam Rhys; the most selfless human alive.

Maxwell gathered his things together, stood, and made his way towards security. It was time.


	12. Chapter 12

You've gone a million miles  
How far'd you get  
To that place where You can't remember  
And you can't forget

-Bruce Springsteen, Secret Garden

By the time he made his connection in New York and was on his way to Dublin, a hard knot had settled in his stomach. He sighed and swallowed the Nyquil he’d picked up at one of the shops in JFK. It would best to face Riley, not to mention Tiberius, having at least attempted to alleviate the effects of jet lag. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

_It looks like the palace’s garden maze, but the walls are so tall that there’s no hope of seeing over them. Maxwell reaches for a vine, hoping to climb to the top, but the foilage turns to a mass of thorns. He steps back, turning in a slow circle, not sure which direction to take._

_“Maxwell!” Riley’s voice rings out clear._

_“Riley!” Maxwell turns in the direction of her voice. “Where are you?” He begins to run down a path, his heart hammering in his chest._

_“Maxwell!” Riley rounds a corner and runs into his arms. “I found you.”_

_“Looks like we found each other.” He pulls away from her and frowns. “But how are we going to get out of here?” The two of them look around, at the various paths and the towering walls, before locking eyes. “Do you trust me Maxwell?” There’s a pleading in her eyes._

A gentle but firm hand on his shoulder roused him from the dream. “I’m sorry sir, we need everyone to put their seat belts on.” The flight attendant flashed him an apologetic smile before moving down the rows. Maxwell shifted in his seat and pulled the seat belt around him, clicking it together. He leaned back and exhaled slowly. The dream had him out of sorts, either because of the imagery or, more likely, the fact that he hadn’t trusted his own mind since everything had gone pear-shaped.

He’s jolted further awake at that train of thought. There had been few times since Riley had come into his life that he hadn’t trusted her. She had always had a way of watching, waiting for the right moment to wind her way in.

_Maxwell is sitting up, twisted in his sleeping bag, wide awake, his mind racing. He couldn’t stop perseverating over Drake and the way his fond eyerolls had given way to an angry set to his mouth. A sense of helplessness had left him paralyzed earlier that evening, staring at the semblance of a tent in front of him, Drake very determinedly ignoring him._

“Can I help?” Riley strode over and bumped her shoulder into his.

“You’re already done setting your tent up?” Maxwell looked over his shoulder to see Riley’s perfectly constructed tent. “Did Drake help you?”

“I don’t need help with a tent; I used to work for the United States Forest Service.”

“Oh, yeah. I guess that would be a job requirement.” Maxwell’s mind wandered to an image of Riley being a total badass, fighting fires by day and pitching a camp by night. ‘I uh, am completely worthless, as usual.”

“Hey,” Riley gave his arm a gentle squeeze. “You just have a different skill set.”

“A not-so-practical one.”

“I won’t have someone speak so disparagingly about my best friend.” Riley moved to begin deconstructing and reconstructing Maxwell’s tent. “So cut that out.”

_Maxwell was shaken out of his brooding by the sound of the tent unzipping. Riley stepped in, arms full of pillow and sleeping bag. “Hey,” she said. “I’m freezing and Hana is sound asleep. I don’t want to wake her up. Is it okay if I huddle for warmth with you?”_

_“That depends. Are you a ghost?” Mawell’s heartrate had quickened, though it had little to do with being out in the dark woods._

_Riley furrowed her eyebrows. “Are you just trying to tell me nicely that I should go back to my own tent?”_

_“I don’t mind if you’re here, as long as you’re not a ghost.” In truth, Maxwell was so desperate for any validation that he hadn’t lost any more of his friends that he’d let Riley have all of the covers if she asked for them. But it wouldn’t do to show his hand._

_“Well, how do you want me to prove it?” Riley turned and zipped the door of tent closed, tossing her bedding in Maxwell’s general direction._

_“Tell me something that only you know.”_

_“Hmm…” Riley turned back to Maxwell, lowering herself to her knees and crawling closer to him. “You care a lot more about what Betrand thinks than what you let on.”_

_Maxwell’s eyes widened. “Wow, you don’t mess around, do you?”_

_“I do not. Did I pass the test?”_

_“Yeah. Plus, if you were a ghost, you probably wouldn’t be politely intruding.” He unzipped his sleeping bag and helped Riley zip her’s together with his._

_“Thanks,” Riley settled in next to him. “Hey Maxwell, tell me if I’m out of line here, but...this whole thing with Savannah…” She paused, narrowing her eyes in concentration. “I say this without judgment, because I don’t know what I would have done in her situation, but this is really on her, not on you. It was her information to reveal, and she chose to withhold it, and not reach out to her family, not even to let them know she was safe. Drake might not be able to see that, because I’m sure his loyalty is always going to be with his sister, but it’s really not on you. You were between a rock and a hard place.”_

_Maxwell wrinkled his nose. “I guess.” He sighed. “I probably shouldn’t try so hard to make people like me. It’s probably totally pathetic.”_

_“I think it’s human.” She gave his bicep a squeeze. “And I think you have a huge heart, which is much braver than being a cynical asshole.”_

_Maxwell bit his lip to keep from grinning. “Drake’s not that bad Riley.”_

_“Oh don’t get me wrong; I love that moody fucker. He’s loyal and good-hearted. But he acts like he’s so put-upon, being friends with you, when I’m pretty sure he’d take a bullet for you.” She paused. “I guess I’m just trying to say...he’s lucky to have you, and he’ll come around eventually. And if he doesn’t, that’s his loss.”_

_Maxwell squeezed his eyes shut, lest he tear up. He felt Riley shift next to him, When he opened his eyes, she was laying on her side, top of the sleeping bag pulled up to her chin. He shifted so he was laying and facing her. “Promise me you won’t make fun of me for this.” Maxwell wasn’t sure why he was keen on revealing one of his most closely guarded secrets to Riley, who was so clever she was bound to read between the lines and suss out his feelings for her, but later, he would realize it was because with her, it felt as if a weight was being lifted._

_“I promise,” she murmured, a soft smile playing at her lips._

_“I had a huge crush on Drake for a while. Years ago. He was my bisexual awakening. Pretty awkward, considering we’ve known each other since we were kids.”_

_“Perfectly understandable. Did he ever know?”_

_“I certainly hope not. It’s embarrassing.”_

_“He should be so lucky, to have the Maxwell Beaumont enthusiasm directed toward him in a romantic sense.” Riley smirked. “I can only imagine.”_

No, I don't think you can, _Maxwell thought._

_Maxwell woke up the next morning to Riley nudging him awake. “Maxwell,” she murmured, “the others are calling to us.”_

_Maxwell squinted in the morning light as he attempted to sit up. “Where are my shoes?”_

_“Behind your head.” Riley was unzipping the sleeping bags and pulling her own boots on._

_“Why are they behind my head?” Maxwell kicked the sleeping bag off and pulled his shirt on._

_“You threw them at that huge spider last night, remember?”_

_“Yeah, but the spider wasn’t behind my head.”_

_“The spider tossed them back.”_

_Maxwell blinked. “That….is absurd.”_

_“As big as it was, I’d say you’re lucky the spider didn’t pull them on and take off with them.”_

_Maxwell grinned, fully awake, as he pulled them on his own feet. “Guess it’s lucky I only have the one pair with me, and not another seven.”_

_“There are benefits to minimalism, it seems,” Riley unzipped the door of the tent and Maxwell followed her out._

_Hana’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Is something wrong with your tent Riley?”_

_Riley stretched her arms above her head and yawned. “No, I was just cold last night. I crept into your tent, but you looked so lovely sleeping, I didn’t want to risk waking you.”_

_Hana beamed. “Aww. Hey, you must be why I dreamed that a bear came into the tent.”_

_“I would’ve kept you safe from any bears.” The two giggled as Riley gently tackle-hugged Hana. Maxwell watched the entire exchange, his eyes widening in realization._ It was Hana Riley was talking about on the fox hunt. How did I not see it before? _He tore his eyes away, only to see Drake and Liam staring at him. Judging by their expressions, they were suffering from acute compulsory heterosexuality._

_As they hiked back to where the car would meet them, Drake fell back to match step with Maxwell. “Why was Zane in your tent last night?”_

_“Didn’t you hear her this morning? She was cold, Hana was asleep, so she popped into my tent.”_

_“So...that’s all that happened?”_

_It was like an itch, the way Drake’s warning look was fixed on him. Maxwell could barely keep the sarcasm out of his voice. “I don’t think you need to worry about Riley trying to take advantage of me, but thanks for the concern.”_

_“Whatever Beaumont,” Drake grumbled as he put some distance between them._

_Maxwell trailed behind, watching Liam and Drake in the lead and Hana and Riley laughing and talking, arm-in-arm._

The turbulence jostled the plane, and Maxwell fought to keep his leg from shaking in his nervousness. Not for the first time in his life, he felt as if a certain safety net had been yanked out from beneath him. But when he and Bertrand had been forced to figure out how to subsist on no money, he had at least had the internet to guide him through learning the skills to obtain self-sufficiency. There was no manual, no video tutorial, no article that was going to help him through this.

His mind raced, the web of thoughts threatening to become tangled. Impulsivity had been his defining trait for most of his life, the lack of predictability something he’d generally cherished. With Riley, it had all come together to work out. But was he the spider or the fly?

_“Change like our lives depend on it. Maxwell, where are the dresses?!”_

_“Bertrand,” Riley sighed as the two of them looked through racks of clothing. “Bertrand, Maxwell, come on. There’s no need for this.” She paused, inhaling and exhaling slowly in order to keep her cool. Finally, her expression lost its calm stoicism, and she used what Maxwell would eventually dub her firefighter voice. “That is enough!”_

_The two men stopped. Maxwell stilled, suddenly noticing that there was a slight tremor in his hands. Betrand stared at Riley, bewildered._

_“I’m not changing. This isn’t some event; it’s just me meeting Liam for a talk.”_

_Bertrand sighed. “Well, if we can’t win him over with your attire, we can at least do so with your manners. Let’s quickly rehearse courtly protocol.”_

_Riley narrowed her eyes. “This is ridiculous. I don’t need to rehearse courtly protocol.”_

_“Don’t let overconfidence be our downfall.”_

_Riley drew herself to her full five feet and seven inches, and gave Betrand an appraising look. “Why are you being so pushy?”_

_“Because the glory of House Beaumont, a lineage dating back hundreds of years, is at risk. And I...I will not be the one who fails our legacy! This is all I have left!” Bertrand’s voice broke, and he cast his eyes down at the dresses draped over his arm._

_“Bertrand…” Maxwell felt something tighten in his chest._

_“Does this have anything to do with Savannah?” Riley’s gaze softened. “I’ve been so distracted by finding Tariq and everything that I didn’t even ask how your visit with her went.”_

_Bertrand’s shoulders slumped, almost imperceptibly. “There’s nothing to say. That chapter has long since closed.”_

_Maxwell frowned. “But you still talk to her…”_

_“Talk is too strong a word. We occasionally exchange messages to make sure she’s receiving adequate support from House Beaumont. Those moments are small. Infitessimal really. But they are the treasures of my day.”_

_“You still care for her.”_

_“She’s the mother of my son. Of course I do.”_

_“Then you should be with her.”_

_Maxwell put a hand on Bertrand’s shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Remember the way you two used to get along?”_

_“There’s nothing to rekindle, and that’s for the best. With such distractions out of the way, I can refocus my efforts on restoring House Beaumont, something we are incredibly close to accomplishing.” Bertrand straightened his already-impeccable tie._

_“Bertrand, if you love her, then you should tell her.”_

_“There is no romance to be had while this house teeters on the brink of ruin, and we will not discuss this further.”_

_Riley slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. “You know, I have asked myself so many times throughout this Engagement Tour why I put up with you Bertrand. And it turns out that you and I are entirely too much alike; sacrificing love for something greater than ourselves.” She paused. “But here you are, my own ghost of Christmas future right in front of me.”_

_Bertrand frowned. “Riley, what are you saying?”_

_“When I accepted Maxwell’s offer to sponsor me, I was just like you; focused on getting the Crown. I thought I would finally rise up out of my situation. I wasn’t focused on love because I didn’t think it was real. And I sure as hell didn’t think I deserved it.” She took a deep breath. “I was fine with a political marriage, but even then, I knew that Liam wasn’t. I thought that I was being selfless by planning to marry him anyway. I thought it would be selfish to follow my own heart. But now I see that I had it backwards.”_

_She exhaled, and her voice shook as she spoke. “I won’t marry Liam. Even if he asks tonight, which I think is a long shot, because he knows how I feel. I’m not the answer to your problems Bertrand. I care about you, but part of caring about you is being real with you.”_

_Bertrand stared at Riley, his eyes flickering first with anger, then panic. “Maxwell,” he said in a strained voice, “reason with her.”_

_Riley turned to Maxwell, holding his gaze with her own. “What do you think Maxwell?” There was a pleading in her eyes._

_Maxwell felt his heart start beating faster. “I…” His feet moved almost of their own accord, erasing the distance between them. He pulled Riley into his arms as he tried to pour everything he felt into a kiss. His eyes locked on her’s as he pulled away, but his arms tightened around her. “I thought I could be the one walking you down the aisle. But I can’t. I want to be the one you’re walking to. I love you Riley.”_

_“I love you too Maxwell,” she murmured. She sighed and rested her forehead against his. Reluctantly, they pulled apart. “I’ll text you, when I’m back at the hotel. I’ll let you know what happens, if I can return to Cordonia. We’ll meet somewhere.”_

_He nodded. “You’d better get going.”_

_“Right.” She looked between the two brothers. “Are you two going to be okay?” There was as much warning as there was questioning in her voice._

_“Don’t worry Riley.” Maxwell gave her a reassuring smile, and didn’t take his eyes off of her until she was gone from his sight. When he turned away from the door, he found Betrand staring at him in stunned silence._

_“Riley isn’t a bartering chip for you to use.”_

_“How long has this been going on?” Bertrand asked in a low voice, fists clenched, dresses laying on the floor, forgotten._

_Maxwell pursed his lips in thought. “Honestly, I’ve had feelings for her since probably about halfway through the social season. We didn’t confess anything to each other until the UN party the other night.”_

_Bertrand’s eyes flashed. “I can’t believe you would do this to us.”_

_Anger reached its boiling point, spilling over. “Do this to us? I did everything I could to get Riley and Liam together! My heart was being ripped out of my fucking chest the entire time, but I did it for Liam, and for you.” Maxwell clenched his shaking hands into fists. “You want me to be more like you. Well you and I really are cut from the same cloth, both thinking we’re not good enough for the women we love.” He paused. “If you love Savannah, if you really want what’s best for her, you’ll listen to her. You’ll let her decide.”_

_“Maxwell, you’re choosing Riley over me...over us….” Bertrand’s eyes flashed._

_Maxwell felt the tears pricking at his eyes. “I can’t do it anymore Bertrand! I can’t watch you do this to yourself! I can’t convince you not to go down with a sinking ship, but I’ll be damned if I stand by and watch.” He turned on his heel and walked out of the boutique, winding his way down the corridor until he was in the elevator, fumbling with the buttons, breathing ragged. He made it to his room, shaking hands fumbling with the key card, and waited until he heard the snick of the door closing behind him to let his tears fall._

The fasten seatbelt sign clicked off, and Maxwell maneuvered his way out of his seat, stepping carefully down the aisle, trying to keep from crawling out of his own skin. If Dante were alive and writing in the 21st century, surely he’d include a circle of hell that looked like this; trapped at over 30,000 feet, feeling both desperate to reach a destination and wishing the plane could turn around, a special circle for cowards

The puzzle started to come together in his mind. Riley could have stayed in the U.S. With her name cleared, she could have done anything, gone anywhere. Starting over from scratch wasn’t anything new for her. If it was power she was after, if she was really a master manipulator, she would have married Liam and become his queen.

He stepped into the tiny lavatory and turned on the faucet, splashing cold water on his face in a futile attempt to quiet his racing thoughts. He could go over his memories, the interrogation footage, and every possible scenario that awaited him upon his return to Valtoria, but the fact was that he was in limbo until he saw her face-to-face.

For a human construct, time was frustratingly real.


	13. Chapter 13

It was dark by the time Maxwell arrived at the Zane estate. The familiarity, the sense that nothing had changed, was strange yet comforting, and Maxwell was struck by the fact that he’d been gone for less than two weeks.

“Good evening, Your Grace.” The majordomo bowed to Maxwell. “Shall I take your bags?”

Maxwell handed over his backpack and suitcase. “Thanks Alfred. Is the lady of the house in?”

“I believe Her Grace is occupied in her study.”

“Well, I’ll have to see if I can distract her from her duties, seeing as it’s after hours.” 

“Very good Your Grace.” Alfred gave an indulging smile, and Maxwell couldn’t help but wonder how it was possible that Alfred couldn’t hear his heart trying to hammer it’s way out from behind his rib cage.

He took the corridor leading to the RileyCave, pausing before reaching the door. Maxwell bounced on the balls of his feet and steadied his breathing before slowly entering the room. He paused, his hand raised to tap out a knock on the open door. Riley’s back was turned as she frowned down at something on a tablet. Her hair was up in one of her trademark updos, but strands had fallen down, framing a face that was fixed in concentration.

And finally everything clicked into place. All of the evidence, all of the reasons to stick by her still raced in circles in his mind, trying to outpace all of his fears, but when all was said and done, it was the same conclusion: Riley was worth taking a risk for.

Maxwell rapped his knuckles on the door. “Hey you,” he said softly as Riley’s eyes widened. She glanced down long enough to lock her tablet and place it on the desk, before stepping out from behind it tentatively, her hands clasped in front of her. “Maxwell…” she trailed off.

Before he could get wrapped up in his own mind, he walked the last few steps to her and took one of her hands in his. “I’m sorry I disappeared. I was scared.” He paused, trying to formulate his thoughts. “I guess I was scared that this new information about you solved the mystery of why someone like you would fall for someone like me, that instead of being the guy who found Cordonia’s hero in a New York Bar I was the guy who had brought some sort of Pandora’s box home instead. But it turns out, you and I are just two crazy fools trying to do what we can in this world, and sometimes that means we end up taking some unexpected detours.” He carefully laid a hand on her cheek. “And you and I should stick together to help each other get back on the right path when that happens.”

For a moment, Riley just stared at him, eyes wide. She then wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close, burying her face in his shoulder. “How am I ever going to make it up to you?” she asked as she pulled away, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Just make sure not to turn me into the guy who let the fox into the henhouse. And keep on being the kickass duchess you’ve been since Liam appointed you” He paused. “And I’m sure I can come up with some sex stuff you can do to make it up to me as well.”

She laughed wetly. “Well, those are pretty doable terms.”

He smiled and rubbed a hand absentmindedly over her back. They would have some work to do; there were still choppy waters ahead. But they were going to get through it together. “It’s late,” he murmured. “And I have been sleeping in a car and on airplanes. Come to bed with me?”

She pulled away, shifting so she stood beside him, and slid her hand into his. “Lead the way.”


End file.
